


Some of Things

by ImpossibleJedi4



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, But also pretty canon compliant, Family Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Fanart, Journal Brothers AU, Lots of adventures, Slow Updates For Now, Some injuries, Tattoos, bill is even worse in this because the books are people, drei is a sweetheart, everything either happened similarly in canon, magical people, or they're filler adventures that could've happened in canon, people talk about their feelings, some chapters will have a bit more blood than others, will put warnings on chapters with injuries btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpossibleJedi4/pseuds/ImpossibleJedi4
Summary: CROSSPOSTED TO AND FROM FF.net; caught up with posting thereWhat Dipper finds in the woods that fateful day isn't exactly a book... Instead he stumbles across a young being in a stasis and wakes him... Was this a good idea?Based on Elentori's human journals AU art; most of the headcanons for the AU in this story are mine though. Series of one shots; feel free to leave a review with ideas for another one-shot! Not in chronological order! Each chapter has a song that inspired it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Some of Things

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you're here, you're either a) new to this story or b) came here from FF.net where I began posting this in 2017. I just recently picked the story back up again. I hope you enjoy the Journal Brothers AU!
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Apr 7, 2017
> 
> So this is based on the very talented Elentori's human journal AU art. Title taken from the second image; it is also the cover for this fic! I do not own the art, Elentori does!
> 
> [Journal 3](https://elentori-art.tumblr.com/post/122822347007/humanized-journal-3-you-can-find-1-here-and-2)  
> [Some of Things](https://elentori-art.tumblr.com/post/123413206372/poor-unfinished-journal-3-too-precious-for-this)
> 
> Song for this chapter: [You Don't Dream in Cryo…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hus7Iv47YwE) by James Horner from the Avatar soundtrack. (Okay, the whole soundtrack, really.)

"Ugh, Grunkle Stan, why are you making me do this… Always picking me for these dumb chores…" Dipper Pines mumbled to himself as he trudged through the woods, balancing a stack of wooden signs in one hand and holding a hammer in the other. "I'm not even good at getting the nails to stick in the trees."

He paused and set the signs down, pulling a nail from his pocket and whacking it with the hammer until it stuck out of the trunk of a pine so he could hang the sign from it. With a huff, he picked up the load again and set off to find another tree, grumbling about how no one would ever even see these in the middle of the woods.

This _was_ a creepy part of the woods, he thought as he looked around, hearing the breeze whistle around the trees. Really, did hikers and scammable tourists really venture into _this_ particular section of the woods?

Dipper doubted it greatly. "This is ridiculous!" he complained aloud to no one again. He stopped next to an especially tall tree and dumped the advertisements on the ground, throwing his hands up in an exasperated gesture and sliding down the trunk until he was sitting. "It's pointless! I could be finishing that new mystery novel I was reading. Ugh, reminder, never take a stop in the gift shop when all you're looking for is a can of soda. You might get assigned absolutely useless chores."

He lightly thumped his head back against the trunk, then scrambled away, heart rate skyrocketing when he heard the dull 'thud' reverberate through the trunk and echo back. The tree is… Fake? Metal and hollow? Slowly (it's not like a _fake tree_ was gonna hurt him, right?) he crept closer and grabbed his hammer. Experimentally, he tapped the trunk with the hammer, then drew back. Same noise, except more metallic, more metal-on-metal.

But nothing surprising happened, so of course the curious boy decided to investigate. He walked in a circle around the trunk, running his hands over the sculpted bark that was surprisingly convincing. But then he found a slight crack. Tracing it with a finger, he found that no, it wasn't a crack but the outline of the edge of some rectangular panel.

His heart was beating fast. _This_ seemed more exciting than some old mystery novel now.

Dipper picked up his hammer again and wedged the prongs on the back into the small gap and pulled. With a creak and a puff of dust (to which Dipper let out a quiet sneeze), it opened. Frantically waving away the gray cloud, the twelve-year-old stood on tiptoe to peer inside.

There was some 80's looking technology nestled in the compartment in the tree, all covered in cobwebs and dust. With shaking fingers, Dipper reached out and flicked a few switches. When nothing happened, he flicked a few more, then poked some buttons.

"Huh wonder how long this has been here…" he said under his breath. "It sure is old looking tech, and it hasn't been touched in ages… Wonder what it used to do, anyways. And why it's in a fake tree."

Stepping back, he looked around, then found a rock about the size of his head. It took every echo of his strength to roll it over to the base of the tree, but he managed it, then stepped on top so he could get a better look inside. Dust coated several buttons that he hadn't touched yet, and he ran a thumb over them, startled to find that they were inscribed with words. OPEN, said one. The other was emblazoned OPEN AND UNFREEZE.

Knowing it wouldn't do anything, Dipper tapped this button.

And subsequently fell backwards off his rock when he heard a 'whoosh' of air from behind him. Scrambling to look, he found that a panel about five feet by two had opened in the ground.

"Oh my god," he whispered to himself, trembling slightly from excitement. "Oh my god." This was exactly like something out of one of his books he read! But that also meant it could be dangerous… Ever resourceful, Dipper grabbed the hammer and held it up, ready to smash whatever he'd find in that hole. An alien? A stash of treasure? A body?

He crept closer, grip on the hammer tightening as he did. And he found inside…

A frost-covered glass tube-tank-thing (that was the only way he could think of describing it.) There had to be something inside. He reached out a shaky hand. Oh gosh the temperature kept decreasing the closer he got, and wisps of sublimed vapor were trailing from the tank in the warm summer air.

Dipper's fingers made contact with the freezing surface, then wiped away a portion of the frost.

There _was_ a body inside. But this time, he'd been possibly expecting it, so he didn't jump back. His heart just sped up. He cleared more of the glass, trying to get a good look at the person inside.

It appeared to be an older teenager. Maybe about nineteen or so? Dipper couldn't tell. He (Dipper was pretty sure it was a he) had fluffy reddish-brown hair, a bright rusty color. His eyes were closed and his mouth was half open, displaying _decidedly non-human canines_ , two sharp points on each side of his upper jaw (alien?). The teen was dressed in a rust-red-maroon colored coat, with what appeared to be a suit underneath. His clothes seemed too big for his body, and he appeared to have some interesting tattoos. To top off the oddity, he had a monocle over his left eye, seemingly floating without touching his skin.

But the most important fact was that he wasn't breathing.

Was he dead? Had his body been frozen for some weird scientific study reason? But then why was he dressed so fancily, and what the heck was the point of the monocle? All these questions, plus a few dozen more, ran through Dipper's mind as he stared curiously. Then some unseen crack around the middle of the tank split open and frigid air burst out in opaque clouds.

"Oh man oh man! I broke it!" yelped Dipper as he scooted backwards until his back touched the metal tree. He was still clutching the hammer. He stared at the frothing white vapors, reminded of the dry ice from science class. It was dissipating quickly in the hot air, though, and Dipper, now sweating profusely, even after he'd been chilled to the bone, slowly moved closer once more.

The body hadn't changed much, except now Dipper could see he was wearing a knee-length trench coat, and his pants were the same red color. He also was lacking shoes, tattoos of words even on the top of his feet. His hands were lost in the too-long sleeves, but the creature's toenails looked sharper than a human's.

"Huh," Dipper mused, kneeling and sitting back on his heels.

And then the body drew a deep breath and the eyes snapped open.

This time, Dipper did let out a very high pitched scream and fell over backwards, scrambling to get away and only succeeding in lamely scooting a few feet.

A hand clutched at the ground at the edge of the chamber, and then so did another, and a shivering body soon flopped on the grass, tangled up in the trench coat. After what seemed like an almost absurd amount of time, the creature got his limbs to work right. Dipper guessed it didn't help that he was shaking like a leaf; he himself knew all too well that when your body didn't want to cooperate, everything took longer.

But eventually the being sat up, blinking rather serenely. His eyes were freaky; a pale, gold-yellow. Kind of like the shade that most glow-in-the-dark objects were when it was daytime. But he also had no pupils to speak of. Dipper would have guessed him blind if he wasn't being inspected so intently by this guy.

But he'd stopped trying to scramble away; the other was decidedly non-threatening. Especially since at the moment he was sitting with his head cocked, one of his fangs sticking out of his closed mouth, trembling intently. Probably still left-over cold from being in stasis for who knew how long. Plus he was still a good three feet away.

Then he extended his neck towards Dipper and sniffed. Dipper raised one eyebrow, looking confused, still sprawled on his back, one hand clutching his chest.

"You smell like anxiety."

"Ex…. Ex _cuse_ me?" That had thrown Dipper for a loop for sure. "Wait… You can talk?"

"I talk, yes!" the creature said, bobbing his head enthusiastically. "Not talk good, though." He had some weird accent, half German and half something that Dipper couldn't place, something he'd never heard before. And his voice seemingly cracked just as much as Dipper's.

"Um…" Dipper didn't really know how to respond to that. Then his eyes bugged even further when he saw some of the creature's tattoos fade into new images and words. He didn't notice Dipper staring, because his attention had been drawn to shaking his hands out of his too-large sleeves.

"I sorry. I unfinished. Small, funny voice, no full sentences." He looked a little downcast for a moment before perking up again. "But I Drei! Who you?" He moved closer to Dipper, who was too busy being in shock to back away.

"Um… I'm Dipper. And… Drei like… The German word for 'three?'" When he'd heard the name coupled with the accent, he wondered.

Drei nodded. "Yes! Yes, Three! That me!"

"And, um, why are you named Three?"

"I have brothers. Two; I littlest. So I three!" He hopped closer again. "Why you scared? I no hurt you!"

Dipper sat up, still intensely suspicious and paranoid. "Um… Not exactly supposed to talk to strangers, you know, especially ones that just came out of cryo chambers in the middle of a really weird part of the woods. So… Maybe I should, ya know… Go…" He got to his feet, like he was staring down a predator and not a rather ridiculous looking teenager.

"You… Leave? It okay, I wait for Creator." Drei had ceased his shivering at long last and crossed his legs, looking happily at the trees around him, one knee bouncing a little.

"Wait… Creator? What do you mean by 'creator'? And how the heck are your tattoos _changing?_ How is that monocle _levitating in front of your eye?_ " Dipper asked from his position by the tree. His paranoia and curiosity were fighting a fierce battle in his head, but he was pretty sure curiosity was winning this time.

"Creator! Man who made me and brothers. Used magic and here I is!" He then looked down, pulling at the neck of his shirt to stare at his chest. Then he shrugged. "I know some of things. Brothers complete, they know _more_ of things. I has incomplete data and observations. Creator never finished me. I put in stasis, he say he was leaving. Poof. Now I's here!"

"… I knew this town was hiding weird stuff." Dipper could say nothing more as he watched the tattoos shift again. He noticed that some of the marks didn't change. Like the three freckles in a triangular pattern under Drei's right eye, or the weird diagram on his wrist that he could see peeking out of the adjusted sleeves. He blinked, wanting to stop staring at the peculiar magic marks, but… Dang this was _cool_. His very own mystery…

Who was currently moving to sit right next to him.

"Ack!" Dipper spluttered and moved away. Drei watched him move, still smiling. "What wrong, Dip?"

"No, no, it's Dipper."

"Like Dip better."

"Dip-per."

"Dip."

"Argh." Dipper waved a hand in surrender and sat down, a little further away. _Oh man what am I gonna do with this dude?! Take him back to the Shack?_ Out loud, he just said, "So, um, you know how long you've been in there, Drei?"

Drei cocked his head again, thinking. "Was frozen in 1982. What year is?"

"It's 2012… You've been frozen for thirty years, Drei…" Dipper was stunned… They had that tech in the early 80's? Wasn't cryogenic freezing for things like humans not supposed to exist even now?

But here he was speaking to a non-human entity with magic tattoos who claimed to have been _made_ by someone. The cryogenics was the believable part.

"Oh. What do now?" Drei looked a little lost. "You think Creator come back?"

Dipper gulped. "Um… Not sure. Well….. Okay fine, follow me, we'll take you back to the Mystery Shack and see if my great uncle knows your Creator. Sound good?"

Drei nodded, grinning with those sharp fangs. "Much good! Very! I follow!" His tattoos shifted again, and he gained what looked like a red ink (or blood) stain on his left cheek. And… Dark, slashed words right on his throat.

**TRUST NO ONE!**

Dipper shivered. Those words, yet here he was conversing with a man-made being in the woods… About to lead him home… Oh boy this would be fun.

"Okay, let's get going, man." Dipper got up and poked a button to close the hatch in the ground, then shut the panel in the tree. "Just like I found it. Minus one magical guy. Okay."

Waving a hand, he set off down the path he came, having grabbed the last of the signs and his hammer. Drei followed, but not in a straight line. He had to inspect _all the things,_ as he put it, like a dog off the leash. Dipper couldn't keep up, he kept cricking his neck trying to keep track of the teen. He was acting a bit like Mabel on a sugar high, except quieter.

"Geez, Drei, calm down!" Dipper called after five minutes of this energetic darting. "I know you just woke up, but you're gonna find trouble!"

"Oh, I knows these woods! Like back of hand, hahaha!" As he flashed by, he waved a hand under Dipper's nose, showing a sketch of the forest on the back.

"Very funny," Dipper said with a sigh. Oh, there was the Shack up ahead. He heard Drei skid to a halt behind him.

Time to see how this was going to go.

* * *

Grunkle Stan took it surprisingly well. When his great-nephew showed up at the door, followed by a peculiar teen, he actually had to clamp down a look of _recognition_. Dipper had caught it and raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"Aw Dipper who's this?" Mabel asked, walking into the gift shop. "You already making friends?"

"Mabel, uh, this is Drei. He's…" He lowered his voice. "I found him in one of those sci-fi cryogenic tubes in the woods in a secret compartment. I kid you not. Somehow I accidentally unfroze him, and, well, he's… Enthusiastic." He eyed Drei as Grunkle Stan swatted him lightly with a broom for trying to climb onto the counter. "He's some kind of artificial… Record… Keeper?" Dipper shook his head.

"Well, I'm gonna make him a sweater. I can make a red one! What should it have on it?" Of course this was Mabel's first thought process.

"Well, his name is German for 'three,' so maybe the number three?" Dipper hadn't known him long enough to know.

"Ooooh good idea! I'm gonna go say hi." She skipped over to Drei, who was trying on a blue and white pine tree hat. "Hi there!"

She startled him and he dropped the hat, then picked it up and put it back. "Hello! Who is you?" He looked interested in the small girl in front of him, just as he had with Dipper.

"I'm Mabel!"

"Mabel? I like name!"

Dipper called out, "Aw hey come on, she gets her full name!"

"Aw thanks!" Mabel giggled. "You're funny."

"Thanks you! Hear that, Dip? I is funny!" Mabel snorted when she heard that.

"Ha you're already teasing my bro-bro and you hardly know him! I like you already!" She laughed, then gasped. "Oh my gosh. Drei! You have sweater paws! Well, coat paws but same thing!" She pointed at the way his sleeves completely covered his hands.

"Sweater…. Paws?"

"Yeah! Like your sleeves are too long!" She tucked her own hands into her sweater and held them under her chin like a begging kitten. "It make you look adorable!"

Drei drew back. "I… Is… Adorable?" He looked supremely confused, and Dipper felt a bit bad for him.

"Yes. Now come with me, I've gotta make you a sweater. _Dip_ , you're in charge of lunch!" She grabbed Drei by the hand and dragged him from the room, him shouting "waits up!" as he was tugged along.

Dipper sighed, but had to crack a smile. At least his sister's crazy energy wasn't focused on _him_ for once.

"Where did you find him, kid?"

"Huh?" Dipper was startled by his uncle coming up behind him. He looked up. "You… You know about him, don't you? You recognized him." Stan said nothing. Dipper continued. "Drei… Said something about a 'Creator,' like someone made him. Maybe you know who–"

"We've met." Stan cut him off. "But… How? How did you find this guy? I literally just told you to hang up signs, and you come back with a humanoid automaton?"

"I found a panel in a fake tree in the woods and it opened a cryogenic tank and I didn't mean to!" Dipper blurted out. "But… Automaton? What?"

"Kid, Drei is a magical being created as a self-operating recording device. Yes before you ask he's really alive and all that junk, but he was made with magic for storing information. Maybe… I dunno, maybe he can teach you kids some cool stuff. Probably knows a lot about the town." Stan smiled all of a sudden.

"Here, go make lunch for your sister and new friend. He's… He's staying with us. Don't ask why, kid, 'cause I ain't giving up answers right now."

Dipper had been expecting this, but it was still a let down. "Okay Grunkle Stan." He turned and walked into the kitchen, disappearing from view.

Stan looked after him, hit by a wave of gratitude. He would _never_ have discovered Drei had it not been for Dipper. If… If he hadn't… He didn't want to think of it. But now he didn't need to worry, and cracked a smile. This one seemed different than the One he knew. Maybe fun to have around.

Still he was grateful that Soos and Wendy weren't around to see. He'd pull them aside and explain later, after he got his thoughts together.

This was going to be interesting, to say the very least.

* * *

Drei was an incredibly messy eater. After thoroughly sniffing his sandwich, he'd tried to shove it in his mouth all at once, then nearly choked, and pulled it back out again to a twin chorus of 'ewwww'.

"I sorry. Only eat soup and beans before now. This new." Mabel demonstrated the proper way to eat a sandwich and all was okay after that. They spent the afternoon watching Drei's reaction to television. His eyes had grown as wide as saucers and he was entranced. Dipper noted that his tattoos seemed to change quicker as he stared at the screen.

But before long, it was bedtime. Mabel had completed Drei's sweater, a golden 3 on the front, and she had, once again, made his sleeves too long on purpose.

"Why my clothes never fit?" Drei asked as he held up the sweater.

"Because my sister is a big goof," said Dipper, looking up with a grin from the book he was reading.

Mabel stuck her tongue out. "Like I said earlier. It's cute!"

Drei took off his long coat, draping it over a chair and showing that he was wearing a white long sleeved dress shirt. Next to go was the rust waistcoat and his (too long) tie. When he began unbuttoning his shirt, Dipper looked skeptical. "Uh, man, you sure you don't need some privacy?"

"No, no, I is good. Creator want to read his notes sometime, not have me speak them. I is used to stares."

And it was obvious why he would get them. His entire body was covered in the journal entry-like tattoos and sketches. Like someone had taken the field journal of a researcher and put it on his skin. Guess that was what Stan had meant by 'record keeper.'

"Woah, Drei, that's cray-cray!" Mabel said with a gasp. "The… Shapeshifter…" she read from a spot near his shoulder. Drei blushed red.

"Is 'cray-cray' good thing?" He looked reassured when Mabel nodded.

"Hey Mabel watch what they can do, " Dipper said. As if on command, the tattoos shifted, revealing a spread of hexagons filled with symbols covering his back, and the words SECURITY ROOM scrawled across his shoulders. Mabel gasped in appreciation.

"That. Is. So. Cool!"

Dipper had noticed that yeah, the diagram on his left forearm didn't change, but he figured he'd ask later. "Yeah it is really cool. Hey man did you, like, have to get those all… Put on you? That would hurt."

"No, Creator say the words and they appear! I is tuned to what he want to record. Is magic, no hurt." Drei then wriggled into his sweater, plucking the monocle out of thin air and dropping it on top of his bundle of clothes as the final touch.

"Mind if I ask more questions in the morning?" Dipper asked with a yawn. Drei shook his head.

"No mind! Questions is what I was maked for!"

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Mabel called cheerfully. Stan poked his head in.

"Hey you three. Just bringing up the sleeping bag and pillow for Drei. I assume you want to stay in here, kid?"

"Oh yes pleases!" Drei said with a nod that further messed with his hair.

Stan laughed. "Yeesh kid don't dislocate your neck! I dunno how to fix that." He tossed him the sleeping bag and pillow, and Dipper got up and helped get it set up between the twin's beds.

"Night, I'll wake ya up for breakfast in the morning." And with that, Stan went back down the stairs. Drei climbed into his sleeping bag and curled up like a dog while Dipper got the light and Mabel slipped under her covers.

Before they fell asleep, one last mystery was uncovered. "Drei… Your eyes are glowing in the dark."

"They does that," murmured a sleepy voice, and Dipper watched the greenish orbs move, then saw when Drei closed his eyes. The eerie light still filtered through the thin skin.

 _Okay, that's a bit creepy._ But Dipper could handle creepy. He simply lay back in his bed and stared at the ceiling. Right before he dozed off, Dipper mumbled to himself. "Who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked around here?"

And, unbeknownst to all of them, including Drei himself… Those words in an unfamiliar blue ink in a perfect replica of Dipper's handwriting scrawled across Drei's upper arm, along with a portrait of the twelve year old, looking exactly as it would had Dipper himself drawn it on paper.

_Who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked around here?_


	2. The Journey Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say except thanks for the views! The entries Dipper gives Drei are actually straight from Journal 3, I just tweaked them!
> 
> Taken from the FF.net posting: "The setting of the ancient altar in this one-shot was suggested by my amazing best friend Gedhyr of Flight Rising."
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Apr 7, 2017
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Awakes as a Bear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fkaUDujwEk) from the Brother Bear Soundtrack (various artists)

"Where is we going?"

The boy in a blue and white pine tree hat sighed. "Drei, for the million and first time… I don't know! I'm a bit new to this 'magical creature hunting' business. I've only ever _dreamed_ of something like this. Never actually done it." He climbed over a fallen log while Drei jumped on top, balancing on all fours and perching there like some peculiar woodland creature.

The teen was wearing just his white dress shirt, pants, monocle, and trench coat. Mabel and Stan were actually in town getting him more clothes right then; Drei had managed to make a mess of himself seven times in the last few days, once involving peanut butter, another involving dish soap, and several times involving Pitt cola.

"Okays okays," he said, hopping off the log and standing up. Then…. (Dipper braced himself for another 'where is we going')

"There old magic ahead."

Dipper blinked open his eyes from when he had squeezed them shut in anticipation. "Huh?"

"Ahead! Old magics, eldritch beings was there. Empty nows, but used to hold old creature." Shaking a hand out of his sleeve, he pointed.

Ahead, there was a grassy clearing with a seemingly saturated blend of light and shadow. The shafts and rays of sunlight seemed brighter than usual, and the proud and velvety shadows seemed deeper. In the center was what appeared to be the ruins of a cracked altar. The gray stone was heavily worn, chunks flaked off to reveal an empty chamber inside the pedestal. Vines of ivy had grown up the sides, their dark, veiny stems a stark contrast to the ancient stone.

Dipper moved closer, noticing that it seemed once there had been runes and engravings carved into the rock, but now they were far, far too faded to make out.

"Woah. This is… Awesome…"

"I knows! Creator maked small note about these place with I's oldest brother Eins. He too busy studying other thing to write much." Drei was currently scratching at one of the ivy stems, unblinking eyes perpetually curious.

"Hm… Maybe I could record some stuff I find?" They had certainly been surprised by Dipper's unconscious addition to Drei's tattoos a few days back. The recorder couldn't explain why; he'd been specifically designed to take notes only at his Creator's voice command.

Dipper unfortunately suspected that the stasis may have affected Drei's magic.

Drei looked up at him, a smile spreading across his face. "I be useful again?"

Dipper laughed. "Yes, you be useful again." They backed away from the altar and found a sunny patch of grass, sitting down. Dipper was cross legged while Drei's legs were splayed out carelessly. "Okay so how exactly does this work? I know I've been badgering you for the past few days, but you said you didn't mind questions…"

Drei was quiet for a moment, tongue poking out in concentration as he rolled up his left sleeve to the shoulder. Apparently, sewn inside the shoulder of his coat was a loop of material with a snap on the end. This snap connected to its other half, sewn to the outside of his coat's shoulder area. The loop trapped the fabric of his too big sleeve and kept it rolled to the shoulder, exposing a tattooed forearm but bare upper arm.

Dipper ignored the tattoos on his forearm; Drei had scrolled through all of them at will in the past few days, and Dipper had read most of the information.

"Okays. So my upper arm is bare, rights? That is spot where new data appear. My brothers have different spotses. Eins's was on he's shin. Zwei have his spot on his belly! But they full, no more blank space. But me incomplete remember? So I's collect all you tell me to until I complete too! Then I just keeps it." He was grinning at the prospect of gaining new knowledge, bouncing a little, even. "Zwei jealous when I tooks over for him. But eventually he like me!"

Drei did tend to talk about his brothers a lot… Dipper wondered where they were, if they even still existed… If they didn't… No, he wasn't going there, he was staying on the topic at hand.

"That makes sense," Dipper said with a nod. "You just keep absorbing new info until you're full. Kind like a notebook or a… Journal of some kind, huh?" He wondered if being incomplete… _Hurt_ at all, or anything. He hoped not, he'd already gotten a bit attached to his new friend. So had Mabel; she was already trying to teach him how to knit. But thankfully, so far Drei didn't seem affected in any way other than his broken English, small stature, and cracking voice. In fact, his incompletion seemed to make him extremely excited to do his job.

"So I just… Talk out loud and _will_ my words to appear?" Dipper asked dubiously.

"Yes!"

"Okay… I'm gonna start with an introduction." Drei nodded simply, blinking in anticipation.

"Hmmmm… Let's start with 'greetings!'" The world scrawled itself across Drei's bicep, and they both watched it. "… Nah that sounds stupid." The word became scratched out. "Starting over! Hm…. 'Salutations!' Nah….. 'Whasssssup?' No that's even more stupid and unprofessional!"

"JUST BE PICKING ALREADYS!" whined Drei. "YOU IS TAKING UP MY SPACES!" Indeed all four headers were written in blue in on his arm, each scribbled out. Dipper immediately felt guilty.

"Ahhh sorry man I didn't know! Okay okay I got this now… 'Hey there! My name is Dipper Pines, and from now on I'll be the one… Recording? With Drei! Whoever is reading this is probably wondering how a normal (okay not normal per se) kid like me would up with one of the most amazing mysteries of all time, Drei. Well, it wasn't exactly on my summer to-do list! The truth is… I… Found him on total accident.'" Dipper looked up, watching the words appear.

"Good job!" cheered Drei. "You dids perfect!"

Dipper couldn't help but grin; Drei's joy was infectious. He was a bit reminiscent of Mabel, to be perfectly honest, minus her very loud voice and pushiness. But… For the most part he radiated _happy_ and a simple love of life.

A very stark contrast to poor Dipper and his suspicion and cautiousness. (Stan could tell, though, from the moment he met Drei and had to chase him off the gift shop counter, that he might do a world of good for Dipper. The boy needed some friends, from what Stan had heard over the phone from the twins' parents. Drei was perfect; kind of like if someone took the nerd and calm from Dipper and smashed it together with Mabel's innocence and joy.)

"So… You know how I make images? I know somehow that doodle appeared, but…. How do you do it on purpose?" Dipper asked with curiosity, eyeing the marks on his forearm as they shifted.

"Oh, is easy! Close eyes, think image, and poof! It appear in your drawing skills!" Drei waved his hands at that last bit, one bare and the other still hidden in a sleeve, as if to say 'tada!'

"Huh I can do that," Dipper said, closing his eyes. The first thing he thought to imagine was the tree with the panel in it, open to show the dusty tech he had discovered inside. After a moment of dwelling on the image, Dipper opened his eyes. And the drawing was there, winding around the underside of Drei's arm, which Drei lifted to make it easier to see. It did look like Dipper's cartoony yet detailed style, a spitting image of what he would have done with a pen and paper.

"Geez," he breathed. "That is amazing."

"Cans I end these recording?" Drei asked patiently. "Can do more, just start new entry, maybes?"

"Yeah, yeah go for it!" Dipper said with a huge grin on his face. The blue words faded, presumably to be added into the loop of what appeared on his body when he wasn't actively trying to recalled something.

They sat for the better part of an hour. Dipper detailed how he had discovered Drei, and then, together, they made an entry on the altar they had found in the woods, Dipper trying to note as many details as he could. The two poked at the stone structure until it refused to give up any more secrets. At this point, the duo just flopped on their backs in the grass, staring at the sky.

"Hey Drei? Do you think you'll change at all if I end up completing you?" Dipper asked as he watched a cloud scuttle across the blue expanse.

"How you mean? If you means voice and talking and size, I mights! Kind of hopes so… Wish I could learns good talking, but it no work. Can't learn talk right."

"I'm sure it'll get better for you if it improved for your brothers, then." Dipper looked over at him and smiled. "And if it doesn't? I don't mind and Mabel doesn't mind. No one here is bothered at all; you're still perfectly coherent." Dipper had more meant personality-wise, like would he seem to get more mature, or physically age? If he did, even though it had only been a few days… He'd mourn the loss of Drei's childlike nature. So he decided these were questions for another day.

"Aw really? You guys is too nice," Drei said with a fanged grin.

"Never can be too nice." He was quoting his sister but he didn't mind. Dipper sighed, closing his eyes and feeling the soft summer grass at his back. "How about we just hang out here for a while?"

"Yes, yes, sound good! Much nice."

And so they did, until the sun had drifted partway down the sky, and they woke to Mabel calling them back to the Shack for dinner.


	3. Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is installment 3!
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Apr. 12, 2017
> 
> Taken from FF.net posting: "Idea was proposed by my best friend Kattata on FlightRising! And Quiet Leaf (in the reviews) said they wanted to see Journal 2, Zwei, so… Here we are!"
> 
> [Here is the link for the Elentori art of Zwei, by the way!](https://elentori-art.tumblr.com/post/122811791652/humanized-journal-2-you-can-find-1-here-3-will)
> 
> Some of the dialogue was taken directly from the episode with tweaks, especially Gideon's dialogue with his father concerning Drei.
> 
> Song for this chapter: [One Family](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1OgzYvpGXM) by Mark Mancina from Disney's Tarzan

Kicked out. They'd all been kicked out of the Mystery Shack by that _pig_ Gideon. Dipper woke in a cold sweat as he remembered what had occurred the day before. Wrecking ball… Blown back by dynamite, right in their moment of victory… He rubbed his elbow, wincing, feeling the bandage as he remembered the splinters he had gotten.

Then he realized everyone was staring at him. Soos in the futon next to him, his sister in her watermelon sleeping bag on the floor, Drei with his glowing eyes from his nest of blankets, Stan from his air mattress…

"D-did I scream in my sleep?" he asked, cheeks flushing.

"Yeah, kid, ya did. Remembering what happened yesterday?" Stan's voice was uncharacteristically soft. Dipper nodded and rubbed his eyes. His watch said 6 AM. No one would be getting any more sleep today.

"Shhh it is still early," said Soos's abuelita from her chair, holding up a finger to her lips. "We do not want to wake whole neighborhood." Her voice was very quiet as she leaned back in her chair again, hands folded across her lap. Mabel walked over to her and poked her cheek.

"Soos your grandma is adorable! And her skin is so soft…" Abuelita didn't react, obviously used to kids being weird since she had raised Soos. But when Drei crept up to her and poked her other cheek, Stan felt like he had to intervene.

"Okay you two quit bein' creepy!" he barked, but not in a particularly loud voice. He picked up the remote nearby. "Let's see what the news has to say 'bout all this crud." He flicked on the TV, then shifted through the channels until he arrived at the local news. "Oh blah blah blah, everyone likes Gideon, more of that nonsense," he grumbled.

"Now they're showing him with _puppies_?" Mabel said in response to the picture on the screen. "Those poor puppies!"

When the image switched to a photograph of Stan in a devil costume, though, Dipper and Mabel giggled and Drei cackled so hard he fell over. "That picture was taken out of context!" Stan cried out, turning red. It made no difference to the kids. "I was tryin' to freak out some tourists 'round Halloween!"

The room quieted just in time to catch Gideon's invitation to the announcement where he unveiled his plans for the Mystery Shack, along with the declaration of free admission to Gideon pin owners.

"Let's break in," Stan said, and was only mildly surprised when all of them nodded.

"It's all my fault," Dipper added, eyes downcast, picking at a mysterious stain on the sofa. "If I had known, if I'd been quicker to help with the Mindscape battle…" (Stan still did not recall any of that) "ugh, just… I'm sorry guys."

"It's okay, bro!" chirped Mabel. "Now Drei and I will get to be the heroes!" She wrapped an arm around Drei and drew him close, and he grinned.

"Yes! Wes be the heroes!"

"With my trusty grappling hook!" Mabel continued, waving it around happily.

"Geez you're gonna take my eye out!" Dipper complained. _Does my sister never take anything seriously? Does she not see that we could be sent home because of this?_

"Never fear, dear brother, I'm more skilled with this than I look!" She released Drei and aimed at a jar of jelly across the room. "See? Jelly grab!" As Dipper predicted, the heavy metal hook shattered the glass. Dipper groaned, though at least he had shielded his face with a hand when the jar exploded.

"Mabel!"

"Oooh yums," hummed Drei, who hadn't bothered to protect himself from the sticky deluge. He licked some off the back of his hand. "Strawberry!"

"I vacuum the walls now," said Abuelita in that same serene voice. She seemed to spend a lot of time vacuuming, and it was her answer even for spills involving liquid. The first time Dipper had seen this, when Drei dropped a glass of water, he'd thought of pointing out that maybe vacuuming up water wasn't the best idea. Wouldn't she break her vacuum? Wouldn't the floor still be wet? But he decided against it in the end. He was far too tired after the day he'd had. Dream-crashing in his great uncle's head didn't exactly count as sleep.

After the wrecking ball had smashed through the roof, Gideon had given them five minutes to collect their belongings before he kicked them out. The Pines knew it wasn't because Gideon had the goodness in his heart to do so, but because he didn't want them sneaking back in at night to steal their possessions. The twins had gathered up all they could carry. Dipper's backpack was mainly full of books, though he'd thrown in two extra outfits (only after prompting from his sister.) Mabel, however, was the dead opposite. She had an entire suitcase stuffed full of her sweaters and stuffed toys, and it looked like it was just about ready to explode. He'd tried to tell her to bring less, but she had ignored him.

Drei's clothes were also stuffed into her suitcase, though he didn't have many. Stan had complained about the weight of that suitcase, but in a shaky voice, like he was trying to keep things normal and only barely succeeding. Mabel and Drei were mostly in shock, though they both bounced back remarkably quickly. They were the two optimistic team members, and Dipper envied them a little. He felt… Almost hopeless, from the second he had walked into his half-destroyed room to collect his stuff. Numb, that was what he felt. Numb disbelief that somehow was painful at the same time.

What were they going to do?

All of them had felt relief when Soos offered his grandmother's house to crash at for the night. With Drei clinging to his arm, Dipper had breathed a huge sigh of relief. His mind had been going in the direction of camping in the woods, and honestly knowing all the monsters that lurked there made him nervous. He'd never forget the wolf that attacked him right outside the Shack at night. Plus, there would be a campfire and Drei had a paralyzing fear of fire….

But they'd come to the small house with the surplus of lawn ornaments on the outside and lace on the inside. It was decorated in a bizarre fashion, but none of them really cared at that point (except Mabel. She enjoyed petting the stone dog statue in the living room.) They all had just been grateful for hot showers and a place to crash.

But… It was crowded. This wouldn't work for the whole rest of the summer.

"We need to get the Shack back," Dipper said with a sigh.

* * *

"Okay these disguises should work."

"I'm loving the fake mustache."

The Pines family was standing outside of a chain link fence that had been erected around the Shack, all wearing dust-colored trench coats. Mabel had glasses and a fake mustache as well (she was obviously the one who had spoken). Dipper had a fedora in place of his usual hat, and Soos had a fake beard and a sign on his head that read NOT SOOS. Stan had settled for turning up his coat collar to hide the lower half of his face. Drei had removed his monocle and put dark shades in its place to hide his pupil-less eyes, and was keeping his mouth shut to keep his fangs inside. Sometimes they poked out. None of the Pines were even sure Gideon knew who Drei was, but best to try and not make him recognizable just in case.

"Okay guys we need to sneak in and find out what Gideon is up to," Dipper said, pounding his palm with his fist like he was about to start a round of Rock Paper Scissors.

"If anyone asks, I'm _not Soos_."

"Got it. Let's go."

Getting in was easy. Sure they had to pay three dollars each to get in, but Stan had said beforehand that he would rather pay good money than sacrifice his dignity wearing a pin with Gideon's face on it. Everyone had unanimously agreed.

The family was horrified by the big reveal Gideon had to offer. "That lousy, overdressed doll-child," growled Stan under his breath. "That's what he's hidin' under all that hair: an overinflated head."

"And presenting' our new mascot!" cried the child psychic. "Lil' Gideon Junior! He's a pig!" Bud Gleeful revealed Waddles, whom they had captured and dressed in a truly ridiculous Gideon costume.

"Oh, THAT'S IT!" Stan shouted, spurred into action by the look on his great niece's face. She looked frozen in terror at the thought of losing her best friend. He'd run off after the blast, and with Gideon on their heels… They'd had to hope he was safe. Obviously that was only half-true. At least he hadn't been eaten, however.

The family climbed onto the porch, where Mabel kicked over a disgustingly life-size cutout of Gideon, watching it crack satisfyingly down the middle. Gideon and his father stood, stunned, mouths hanging open. How _dare_ they?

"Listen up, Gravity Falls!" Stan said into the microphone, waving both hands to get the people's attention (though Mabel's action had already grabbed it.) "Gideon is a fraud!"

"Yeah he broke into the Mystery Shack and stole the deed!" Dipper added angrily.

Gideon stepped forward, that sickening simper on his pudgy face. "Oh really? I seem to recall y'all _giving_ me the deed. See, I got it right here!" He took it out of his suitcoat and waved it around for the people to see.

Drei didn't like how this kid was speaking to his family. He bared his teeth and hissed like an angry cat in the direction of the ten-year-old. Gideon's eyes widened. "What'n the name of Mike'r _you_?"

"Drei!" hissed Dipper, poking him. "Please control your instincts!" Spoken so no one else could hear the words.

"Oops. I sorries," Drei said, flushing red a little and hiding in his coat collar. (That was fortunate, because he gained some red ink blotches on his cheeks which could have attracted Gideon's notice.)

"Boys, please escort these trespassers out of my lil' celebration?" Gideon asked the two thugs keeping watch. Then he turned back to the Pines, devious glint in his eye. "Don't come back now, I don't care for y'all."

The last thing they saw before they were tossed out the gate and locked out of their own property was that puffed-up brat waving a stubby hand with a big grin on his face.

* * *

It was night. Just after dusk, actually. Gideon had a roaring fire going, even though it was the middle of the summer, and, every so often, would throw a scrap of paper or a photograph of the Pines family into the blaze, then chuckle at something. He was sitting cross-legged in front of a silver cage. A thin, thin golden chain that radiated light was somehow woven into the lock of the metal structure, which was welded to the bars and had a large keyhole in it.

The chain led to a collar, a collar that looked strangely like the leather spine of a book, the same color as Drei's coat… That collar was fastened around the throat of a man. A rather beat up man in his early twenties, rust-colored hair grimy, black bruises standing out on various places of his skin. Baleful yellow eyes that lacked pupils watched the child's every move, mouth set in a thin line. Right below the two freckles at the corner of his right eye was a thin cut that bled a black, inky substance. He was wearing a wrinkled, black-stained white dress shirt, cut with a very unique collar and with the sleeves sloppily rolled up to the elbows, and a waistcoat in that same reddish hue. It had golden buttons, and two strips of dangling fabric with gold tips down the front; they hung like an untied necktie would if he draped it over his shoulders, but these fanciful fabric additions had been sewed to the shoulders of the waistcoat. He also had red dress pants and black loafers…

But the whole getup was stained and grubby, splattered with substances no one could name. Nor would anyone want to. This man was curled up in the cage, knees drawn to his chin.

But he didn't look broken. He still looked angry. Angry, but oh so _tired_ , like he just wanted to sleep. He probably hadn't, judging by the bags under his eyes, in a very long time.

Another figure, this one adult and very round, entered the room. Gideon's father. Both pairs of eyes snapped up to the man, both gazes powerful in their own ways.

"Gideon I've been meaning to ask you… Shouldn't you be out celebrating Gideonland instead of constantly pesterin' that there guy you have locked up?" Bud Gleeful didn't seem to… _Care_ that his ten-year-old son was holding a man hostage. He was _used to it_. It was _disturbing_.

Gideon looked at his father for a long while. "Father," he began. "Have I ever told you the truth behind Zwei here? He was made with magic by a mysterious, unknown Creator, who learned secrets too powerful for one man. He hid his creations where he thought no one would ever find them, because he knew if someone brought the brothers together, they would unleash a gateway to unimaginable power! Codes and maps on his skin have led me to believe that his brother is hiding somewhere on this very property, and _I_ intend to find him." He poked at a map he'd laid out with a fat finger.

Bud's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "So that's why you wanted the Mystery Shack."

"That's right, Father." Gideon nodded, then grinned. "It's time to begin the search for the other brother!" He tossed a broken picture of Mabel, Dipper, and Stan onto the fire, where it snapped and crackled.

Zwei flinched, then looked away. His name was Two. Gideon would suspect a One. He could not protect Eins. But luckily, Eins was the oldest, most resourceful. If anyone could evade Gideon, it would be him.

No, he feared that it would be innocent little Drei that Gideon would unearth here in the Shack. For all he teased the youngest of his family, he was very protective of the little guy. He hated to think of this stupid boy torturing his little brother. Ironically, contrary to the tattoo on his skin, Drei was extremely trusting. Gideon would break him so quickly…

A sharp blast on a whistle pierced the air and Zwei clapped his hands to his ears, more black blood leaking from between his fingers as he tried to block the noise.

"Zwei! Show me those maps again! A wanna know I copied 'em all perfectly."

Yes, he would never give up the existence of Drei to this monster.

* * *

"Hey kids?"

Dipper and Mabel looked up from the stationary car racing game they had been staring at with Soos and Drei. Those two seemed to be having enough fun, poking their cars around the track to cries of "goes, red car!" and "go, other red car!" But now they, too, looked up, everyone holding their breath when they saw the look on Stan's face.

He sighed. "I have to send you home. We got no money for food, and I don't have a job. The best thing to do would be to send you back to your parents." He pulled two bus tickets out of a pocket and set them on the counter. Soos was the first to gape.

"Mr. Pines, you can't! Look at them! Dudes, act cuter! Your summer depends on it!"

"I'm sorry, but it's for the best. I lost, Gideon won." He turned, hands in his pockets, and strode out of the room. Soos looked from one twin to the other, panicked, before dashing after his boss.

"Mr. Pines! Please reconsider!"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, then. Neither wanted to leave; Gravity Falls felt like home. Then they heard a normally exuberant voice speak up.

"Yous… Yous is leaving?" Drei was sitting back, eyes wide, looking shocked. "I don't…. Dip and Mabel, yous has to stay! No leave… Pleases?"

"Oh Drei…" Mabel said quietly. "If we don't get the Shack back… Yeah we're gonna have to go back to California… I don't want to leave you either!" She threw her arms around him, hugging him close. Drei hugged her back, tears dribbling out of his eyes though he made no sound.

"You is my friends… Can't loses you. Be all alonely if you goes…"

"You'll have Grunkle Stan," Mabel offered weakly. "He seems to like you…"

"But yous more fun. And with my brothers missings…" He sniffed, brushing at his tears a little, finding it a bit hard to catch his breath.

Dipper's resolve hardened at the expression on Drei's face at the prospect of them going home. He reached out and patted Drei's shoulder gently. "That's it guys, we _need_ to figure out a way to get the Shack back. We can't be sent home already! Think of all the amazing stuff we've done this summer. And we don't want to leave you either, Drei, promise." He put one hand on Mabel's shoulder and the other on Drei's. "We've overcome much bigger and scarier problems than that stupid little creep. We can do this."

The tears stopped coming from Drei's eyes and he slowly began to grin. "Y-yes! We cans be doing this! Rights!"

Mabel got that mischievous look in her eye as she pumped a fist in the air. "Aw yeah we can, bro-bro! After all, Gideon may have the upper hand, but we have one thing he doesn't…"

Each obviously had a different idea as three different shouts went up.

"DREI!"

"A GRAPPLING HOOK!"

"FRIENDSES!"

The three looked at each other for a second before Mabel piped up. "Oh yeah, we have Drei and his monster and magic knowledge! Yaaay Drei!"

They all got their clothes on after that. Mabel wore a sweater, naturally, while Dipper swapped out his sweaty shirt for a clean one. Drei decided that, for good luck, he was going to wear this original wardrobe, so after much hopping around trying to get into his clothes, he was looking just like he had when Dipper had first met him in the woods (though his hair was now brushed; Mabel had insisted and he'd let her. This had made Mabel very happy; Dipper never let her anywhere near his hair, and sometimes she just wanted some hair to brush or braid.)

Now came the trouble of sneaking out under Stan's watch…

It turned out to be easy, and twenty minutes later, the three kids were camping out under a bush near the Mystery Shack.

"Okay, all we have to do is get past the guards, over the barbed wire fence, and get into the Shack… E-easy, right?" Dipper said, gulping.

"Yeah, if you have a GRAPPLING HOOK!" Mabel grinned and aimed at a tree, one eye closed, and shot… And the prongs rebounded and hit Dipper in the forehead, causing him to topple over and let out a girlish scream. It would have hit Drei in the face if he hadn't ducked just in time. As it were, he bent over Dipper, looking concerned.

"Dip! Oh gosh is you okay? Did it breaks yous head?" Dipper groaned and sat up, rubbing the spot gingerly.

"It's gonna leave a bruise, but… I'm fine, never mind that." He rubbed his chin next, eyes darting as his brain moved a mile a minute. Both Drei and Mabel watched intently, brightening when Dipper's eyes flashed.

"We need some supernatural help. Drei, think you can scroll through some of the creatures you've recorded?"

"Yes! Ons it!" Drei pushed back his right sleeve and held out his forearm, skin blooming with words scrawled in black.

"Barf fairy?" Dipper read. "Don't remember that one…"

"Yeah!" Mabel cried, looking enthusiastic.

Drei however, shuddered, sticking out his tongue. "Disgusting thingses."

"Er, no," Dipper replied, siding with Drei on this one. He waited until a new tattoo shivered into existence, showing a finely rendered sketch next to the words. This one, he recognized. "Squash with human face and emotions?"

"Yeah!" cheered Mabel.

Drei laughed a little. "Thats was weird day."

"Nope. How the heck would that help us beat Gideon? We need some kind of army, guys!" Dipper waved his arms, then a grin overtook his face, slowly, as the gears turned in his twelve year old brain. Drei tilted his head in confusion, arm outstretched like he was waiting to donate blood.

"Okay bro-bro I can see you're thinking. Got it. Could ya, maybe, _share what's going on in that big brain of yours with us, hmmm?_ "

"Okay okay! You remember the gnomes?"

"Oh not _those_ guys!" Mabel groaned with an eyeroll. "I don't want them to complain about me not marrying them one more time, I've so had it with them!"

"But they could be an army! A pretty good one if we promise them the right thing!"

"I'm not working with those creepy little guys, Dipper!"

Drei turned away from their bickering to see Gideon stop his pacing on the Mystery Shack porch. "Uh, guyses…." Gideon turned in their direction, while Dipper and Mabel continued to squabble. "Guyses, he can hears you…" Drei sounded nervous and on the verge of panic. "DIP AND MABEL, STOPS IT!" he cried out, whirling to face them. They quieted, meeting his eyes. "Gideon is…" He looked back to the Shack. "Gones… But he look like he heard us…"

"Oh I did hear y'all," said a dreaded familiar voice. Gideon had snuck up on them, smirking, his pig nose making the expression look ridiculous instead of scary. Unfortunately… The twins knew he could be very scary indeed.

"What were y'all gonna do? Try and steal the deed back? Tickles me just to think of you two attemptin' that!" Indeed he dissolved into a fit of giggles. He only stopped when he saw the snarl on Drei's face. "Well you again… What're you gonna do, huh kid? You're a freak too, just like Dipper Pines over there." Gideon picked up a stone off the ground and tossed it up and down a few times in his hand. Drei and the twins watched carefully, wondering where he was going with this.

Then, quick as a viper, he threw the rock and pegged Dipper on his already sore forehead, right between the eyes. Dipper howled and crashed back onto his butt, clutching the spot where a small cut was now bleeding down the sides of his nose. Mabel half caught him, collapsing to her knees next to him and shrilly crying out his name.

Drei drew back, mouth wide open… And _snapped_.

His eyes nearly spit sparks, glowing even in the daytime. His lips peeled back from his teeth, sharp canines exposed and dripping. His fingers contracted as if he had talons, and his toes bunched in the dirt, though his nails had been trimmed. But most odd of all… From his middle back grew a small pair of leathery wings, each only about a foot and a half long. Definitely too small for flying, but they added to his intimidating demeanor. For the short while Drei was standing still, Dipper and Mabel caught sight of the very fine, downy, rust-red fuzz that coated the wings, along with the webbing of blood vessels visible in the paper-thin skin… They didn't rip through his coat; they sort of had grown on top of it, but were somehow also connected to his body.

He was a recording device full of entries on monsters. Who was to say he couldn't emulate them?

Dipper's first thought was _what the heck how can Drei DO that?!_ He was impressed. Mabel's first thought was _ohmygosh his wings look so soft I wonder if he'll let me pet one._

But Drei didn't stay still for long. He leapt at Gideon, shrieking almost incoherently. "YOU HURTED MY FAMILY!"

The child psychic yelped and rolled out of the way, irritated by the mud now on his suit. "Now see what you-" He had to dodge another attack as teeth snapped down right where his hand had been moments before. Gideon began to sweat.

He wasn't amazingly athletic; he couldn't keep this up for long. An idea hit him.

He drew the magic whistle out of his pocket and blew it as hard as he could. Dipper and Mabel clapped their hands over their ears at the sound, wincing; it still hurt! But Drei…

Drei was writhing on the ground like he was in the midst of a seizure, black blood pouring from his damaged ears. He was tearing at the grass as if he felt he could pull himself away from the noise, crying out in short bursts like it was all he could manage. The wings had folded back against his body and vanished. His eyes, back to their normal color, were hazy with agony.

"STOP!" Dipper screamed above the din. " _YOU'RE KILLING HIM!_ " Mabel's shriek was wordless, but she was just as distraught as her twin.

Gideon did stop, but simply to brush off Dipper's accusations. "It doesn't kill, boy…" He broke off, looking at the dazed Drei near his feet, whose chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

"Wait a minute… This is the other brother! You had him with you all along!" He glared at Dipper and Mabel, who glared right back. Mabel curled her hand into a fist, releasing her grip on her dizzy twin and running at Gideon with the intent of punching that smug look off his face. But Gideon just snapped his fingers and his two thugs grabbed the twins.

"I can't believe it!" Gideon cried in glee. "I just can't believe it!" He reached into his coat pocket and drew out a red leather collar with a thin gold chain. He bent over to fasten it around Drei's neck, two gold stripes glittering. Drei flinched, fingers curled into his hair near his ears and stained with his blood.

"Please no more hurts… No hurt me, no hurt family…" he muttered, closing his eyes.

"Oh, we'll have _plenty_ of fun later," Gideon reassured him with a condescending pat to the head.

"No!" Dipper said, trying to wrench his thin arms free of Gideon's muscled helper. The ten-year-old's blue eyes flicked up to Dipper, and they were full of that cruel mockery that Dipper had seen so many times in the eyes of the bullies that had tormented him in school.

"Every victory you had was due to your precious friend here. Everything you did… It wasn't you at all! And to think I considered you a _threat_!" He walked over and gave Dipper's nose a vicious flick, which Dipper valiantly ignored.

"Drei! Drei, run!" When his best friend didn't move, Dipper stared down Gideon, expression dripping venom. Even Mabel was surprised to see such a look on her sweet brother's face. But then, their friend was just tortured right in front of them… "Let him go or I'll…"

"You'll what, boy? Huh? No muscles, no brains… Face it, you're _nothin'_ without him." Gideon followed up that statement with another chuckle. He then waved a hand at the men holding the twins. "Take them out of here."

Dipper and Mabel's eyes widened as they were dragged off.

"DREIIIIIII!" Dipper cried out as they saw Gideon blow the whistle again and Drei curl up, letting out an endless, wordless shriek.

* * *

They were deposited in twin heaps in the woods, Dipper sitting up first. Picking up a rock, he chucked it into the woods with tears streaming from his eyes. The dizziness had mostly subsided, but he still had blood on his face and the cut throbbed.

"Guess that's it then. Our best friend, doomed to be tortured by that little sadist for all eternity." _My first real friend, and this is how he ends up just because of me._

"What? No Dipper, we can't just _give up_ , we have to save him!" Mabel also looked distraught, tears of her own slipping down her cheeks.

"Drei always had the information, Mabel! I can't help save Drei without Drei! The only… The only cool or courageous things I've ever done have been with him, _because_ of him. I wasn't afraid to mess up in front of him, he was always so sweet and understanding, and now he's gone and I… I can't _do anything about it._ If I make the wrong call, he could die. I can't help you, or Stan, or Drei. I can't help anyone."

Dipper pulled his hat down over his eyes and sobbed. Mabel hadn't seen her brother cry this much in years… "Oh Dipper… There's gotta be _something_ we can do…"

Her twin looked up at her with red, watery eyes. "… What _can_ we do?"

'Not much' turned out to be the answer.

When they'd gone back to Abuelita's house, Stan had been angry, then sad, then resigned. They'd spent one more night, woken early, and…

"Bus departing Gravity Falls," said a voice over a loudspeaker. The twins climbed about, looking back at Grunkle Stan.

"Sorry kids… It's for the best. I'll try to save Drei, but…" He didn't have to finish the sentence. He just stood hunched over. Defeated.

The bus pulled away as they murmured their goodbyes, then turned their eyes to the town out the window. Dipper whispered to himself.

"I can't believe this is happening…"

* * *

"He's mine! He's finally mine!" Gideon was hopping up and down as one of the thugs carried the half-conscious Drei inside the Mystery Shack and into the room with the cages. "At last I have brother number-"

"DREI!" Zwei hadn't spoken much, but he shouted loudly at the appearance of his younger brother, bolting upright and gripping the bars of the cage, looking horrified.

Gideon gaped. He'd figured out that Zwei's name was German for 'two,' so he definitely knew that 'Drei' did not mean 'one.'

"THREE?! There's THREE of 'em?! But where is brother number one? I need all three for this to work!" Gideon began pacing through the rooms, muttering to himself, hands fisted into his well-kept hair.

Meanwhile, the man carrying Drei had dumped him unceremoniously into the empty cage and threaded the gold chain on the collar into the special lock. Drei slumped over, but when the man closed the door, he moved over towards Zwei. The cages were only a few inches apart, and Drei fed his small hands through the bars to grip at Zwei's.

"My… My brother," he whispered hoarsely. He'd screamed quite a lot. "Yous is alive! Zwei, you alive!" His face split into a smile, ignoring the tears rolling down his face.

"Yeah I'm alive. I'm alive," Zwei said, flashing his own smile and reaching back, cupping Drei's face in both hands and smudging away the tears. "It's been way too long, little guy." He drew back when his fingers came into contact with a sticky substance under Drei's ears. Pulling one hand back, he looked at the black liquid. "He got you too, huh?"

"Yes…" Drei said with a wince. "I… I scared, Zwei. I scared for me, for yous, and for Dip and Mabel." He leaned into his brother's caress, desperate for some comfort.

"Dip and Mabel? Did you make friends, Drei?" Zwei asked softly, trying to soothe his little brother. Drei nodded a little.

"Yes I did… They so nice, Zwei. And Dip, he working to complete me! They not just friends… They _family._ " He sniffed again, and whimpered when it hurt. "Just like you is. I _miss_ you, Zwei. Where Eins?"

"I missed you too, little guy." He ruffled Drei's hair, then sat back, keeping one of Drei's hands folded in his own. "But… I haven't seen Eins since we were separated. He's got to be okay. Maybe he's skulking around the lab, huh?" Zwei had the same combined accent as Drei, but his voice was far more melodious, apparently especially when he was trying to be comforting. "He's smart, bet he has all sorts of crazy plans and stuff."

Drei smiled a little again. "I bets so too. He very smart. Like Creator." He squeezed Zwei's hand. "But at leasts we gots each others, right? Me and yous."

"Of course, Drei. We're in this mess together now." Zwei's eyes, yellow and pupiless as they were, held reassurance. "And whatever happens, we're not alone."

They'd both fallen asleep like that, Zwei's hand around Drei's, huddled in their cages.

Then early the next morning, around dawn… Gideon burst back in, and Drei woke immediately, flinching back violently into the far corner of his cage and releasing Zwei's hand. Zwei woke slightly slower, having to work up the energy to pick himself up off the floor.

"Dipper," Gideon was muttering. " _Dipper._ I bet he knows… I bet he's helping hide brother number one and is keeping all his knowledge for himself! _I can't let him leave Gravity Falls!_ " He looked at the two brothers in the cages, then raised a hand and snapped. "Boys, take these two and follow me. We have a bus to catch."

The men grabbed the heavy cages with ease and followed Gideon through the rooms until they reached the porch. Zwei watched as Drei flattened himself to the ground like an animal that didn't want to be seen.

"Shhhh it's okay. It's gonna be okay," he said quietly. But Drei didn't seem to hear.

"Don't hurts Dip. Pleases, just don't hurts Dip…"

* * *

A sigh. The third one in the past minute and a half. Dipper was looking out the bus window at the town passing by, eyes still watering from what had occurred.

"Hey bro-bro… W-wanna play Bus Seat Treasure Hunt?" Mabel's voice broke in the middle and she sniffed, smiling anyways as she tried to get her brother to react, to do _something_.

"I… I'm not in the mood," he murmured, not meeting her eyes.

"Aw come on… We have a Canadian penny stuck in some gum, a…. A gold button…" She picked that up, looking at it for a second, reminded of their lost friend. "I miss him too, Dipper. We have to hope Stan can get him out of there."

Dipper was staring at the gold button too. "He doesn't deserve to be hurt… It's like being mean to a puppy, kinda." His voice was quiet and miserable as he swiped the back of his hand over his eyes. Then…

A dull _thud, thud, thud,_ not unlike footsteps shuddered through the bus. _Giant_ footsteps. Dipper peered out the rear window….

"GIANT ROBOT!" he shrieked.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Mabel cried. Dipper wasn't wrong. A giant animatronic-type robot that looked like Gideon was dashing after their bus, eyes glowing yellow ( _like Drei's_ , some part of him said with an internal wince.)

The twins glanced at each other, wondering if they were hallucinating, then simultaneously dashed for the front of the bus, screaming about their pursuer. But…

"Wait, SOOS?! You're the bus driver?!" Dipper was stunned while Soos grinned.

"Yeah dawg! Been one for what, forty minutes now?"

The next two minutes were sheer insanity for all in the bus. Soon was surprisingly good at evading the swipes from the Gideon-bot. Dipper and Mabel couldn't fathom why it was chasing them; Gideon already had their best friend and had run them out of the Falls… Did he want them dead too? It certainly seemed so as Soon slammed the brakes and spun the bus away from a cliff. It was almost a reassurance when the robot picked up the bus, and it was an _actual_ reassurance when it didn't hurl the bus off the cliff.

Dipper and Mabel had slipped out the back emergency exit, and by means of a thin, treacherous path had made it down to the old abandoned train bridge between cliffs. If they could just squeeze through the boarded up exit tunnel in the other cliff… They'd be safe.

But there was a monumental crash and the rickety bridge swayed. The robot had jumped down onto the wooden structure, and was now leering at the twins.

"TELL ME! WHERE IS THE FIRST BROTHER?" It spoke in Gideon's voice, amplified and echoey, much more terrifying than the pudgy boy's normal tone. Still, Dipper turned around to face him, glaring.

"First brother? Drei is the only one of the brothers we know! We have no idea if the others are even alive! Wait… YOU have one of them, don't you?" That realization finally dawned on him, then. How else would Gideon have known Drei had siblings? Why would he have taken him at all?

"THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT! DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME, BOY!" The robot punched the cliff that the twins had backed up against. Some of the rock cracked and chunks fell towards Dipper and Mabel. The two twins clung to each other, Dipper shielding his sister.

"D-Dipper," came her frightened voice. Dipper's panic immediately rose.

"Oh no, no Mabel did you get hurt?!" But before he could check her over, her tremulous voice rose again.

"No… We're trapped…" She pointed a shaking hand towards the rock pile that now blocked their only way out. Perhaps, though, they should have paid attention to the giant Gideon-bot, because next thing they knew they had been snatched up in two separate cold metal hands, no matter how much they clung to one another. A thrill of fear shot through Dipper… He had to get them out of this.

Futilely punching at the fingers that gripped him, he shouted, knowing Gideon could hear him. "I'm serious, man! You kidnapped the only of the three I ever knew! What do you want with them, anyway? Why can't you leave them alone?!" That just earned him a squeeze from the robot, driving all the breath from his lungs and leaving him wheezing pathetically.

"STILL THINK YOU'RE SOME KIND OF HERO, BOY?" crowed Gideon through his metal contraption, laughing. Then he turned… And threw Dipper up to the top of the cliff.

"DIPPER!" Mabel shrieked, squirming to no avail. She heard another muffled shriek, seeming to come from inside the robot… She squinted….

And discovered that those creepy, red panels set into the robot's cheeks were actually glass. And Drei's face was pressed against the one she was closest to, looking desperately after where Dipper had been thrown.

Mabel was too consumed with worry for her twin to call out to Drei, so she just followed his line of sight up to the clifftop… And saw her brother standing there. She covered her mouth with her hands, too overcome with relief to speak.

Dipper thought he'd blacked out of a few minutes after he'd been thrown. He'd slid and hit his head on a rock, a bloody bump adorning the back of his head and a thin trail of red running from his nose. But he'd still stood up and wobbled to the edge. Almost in slow motion, he saw his sister being taken… He had already lost his best friend… But Gideon was right. He didn't have any muscles, and his successes _were_ due mostly to Drei's knowledge… What… What could he do? One stupid kid who was too short and too wimpy to even fight off a ten-year-old?

He turned to walk into the forest. But then he heard another plaintive cry from his sister. A cry for _help_. He knew he had to at least try.

Swiping the blood from his face, he whirled around and dashed back, leaping right off the edge of the cliff and crashing through the robot's glass coated eye with an angry yell. He couldn't believe he just did that. In the second Gideon was processing what had just happened, Dipper noticed the two cages near the red panels. "Drei?" he called to one of the occupants. "And… And your brother!" The not-so-familar face gave him a soft smile, confirming his words.

"DIP!" shrieked Drei, smiling widely, thrown into a relieved frenzy as he tried to struggle out of the cage. Dipper stepped towards him, also smiling, but then he was grabbed from behind. Gideon, of course.

The resulting fight was harder than either boy would care to admit. Gideon would never want to own up to nearly losing to a half-concussed weakling, and Dipper would never confess that he had almost been taken out by a ten-year-old with hair bigger than his brain. But a close battle it was, both ending up with bruises to eyes and noses and cheeks and stomachs.

Neither of them was particularly concerned with how the brawl was affecting the actual robot. That is, until they heard Mabel scream and the world tilted sideways. Everything went into freefall, and Dipper found himself clinging to the broken glass of the robot's eye, blood running from his fingers but refusing to let go. But then… He was ripped away anyways.

So Gideon would die. So would Drei and one of his brothers. So would _Mabel._ So… So would Dipper.

He curled into a ball in midair, wondering how things had ended up this messed up. Then… He collided with a soft something. Something that _grabbed_ him!

It was Mabel. He watched her aim her grappling hook and fire, saw that it was going to catch, and smiled. Then they both remembered. Just as the rope pulled taut and arrested their motion, they looked down.

Through that glass panel, they could see the face of the being that had become their best friend, mouth open in some unheard cry of terror with his hands to the glass before something tore him away.

A blinding blue flash.

Twin screams.

. . .

Their feet hit the ground and Mabel left her precious grappling hook hanging where they landed as the two darted over to the remains of the robot. There were little fires burning around, only adding to their sense of urgency. Blue sparks flickered at some of the torn metal joints, but Mabel and Dipper avoided those as they clambered to robot's head and peered inside, terrified of what they would find.

Their eyes adjusted and they saw a rusty red lump that gradually resolved into two figures curled around each other. The larger blinked open his eyes, half-lidded stare flickering up to the twins.

"You must be Dip and Mabel," he croaked out weakly. He was a mess of bruises, black running down one temple, right forearm at a slightly odd angle. He shifted a little to reveal Drei. The younger brother was unconscious, right eye swollen, face littered with cuts.

But they were both alive. The twins heard the noises of people coming from behind them; the town wanted to see what had caused the massive explosion. But Dipper and Mabel didn't care. They didn't even care when they heard Gideon's whining voice (he must have an escape hatch somewhere.) All they cared about was getting to the two brothers, which they carefully did.

"Are you Zwei or Eins?" Dipper asked when they reached them.

"Zwei," the man said, wincing as he struggled to his feet while draping his brother over his left shoulder. He wished his could carry him in a way that was better for them both, but with a broken arm… Then the two small children were supporting him from either side as they walked back towards the outer world.

"It's nice to meet you," Mabel said with a smile. "Besides the dumb conditions we met under."

"You… You're the two that cared for Drei," Zwei continued to take his mind off the pain.

"Yeah. My sister and I have been having adventures with him all summer." Dipper couldn't help but smile.

Things were becoming hazy for the boy as the adrenaline wore off. He heard his uncle reveal Gideon's secret cameras and Zwei get out a few sentences about abduction, and he remembered smiling as their enemy was taken away. He recalled leaning against his uncle's leg as cameras flashed, Dipper vaguely looking up at them.

And then the world heaved again and there was blackness.

* * *

Red-orange light streamed in through the triangular window as Dipper cracked open his eyes. One only seemed to want to open halfway. He was… In his own bed in the Mystery Shack? What? Oh, right, they'd gotten it back. Groaning, he sat up and took inventory of his body. A bandage wound around his forehead covered the lump on the back of his head. The bridge of his nose had a small bandaid; he hoped it wasn't one of Mabel's sparkley pink ones. He gingerly felt his blackened eye, noticing that it wasn't as swollen as he would have thought. Someone must have iced it. His arms and legs had a myriad of bandaids coating them, all flesh colored. At least that probably meant the one on his nose was plain too. His cut fingers had been bandaged, each individually wrapped. And, of course, he was covered with bruises in all sorts of interesting shades.

He made another groaning noise, this one more from the annoyance at how long healing was going to take. Then he noticed a couple painkillers and a glass of water on the nightstand, and gratefully took them. Standing on shaky legs and downing the rest of the drink, Dipper made his way downstairs to find the rest of his family.

"Checkmateses!" crowed a triumphant voice with an interesting accent. Dipper was smiling before he even entered the kitchen. When he did, he was greeted by simultaneous cries of "Dip!" and "Dipper!" and a pair of gentle hugs. They were still mindful of the beating he had taken.

"Hey guys!" he said happily. He sat down at the empty seat. Mabel looked hardly worse for wear, only one visible bruise on her upper arm. Drei had a black eye just like Dipper, and small bandaids freckling his face. Mabel _had_ given him a few pink ones. The collar around his neck was gone. Unknown to Dipper, both Drei and Zwei were taking medicinal eardrops to mend the broken blood vessels. But both his twin and his best friend wore wide grins, ignoring the chessboard in from of them. "So did I hear correctly, Mabel? Drei kicked your butt in chess?"

"He did!" Mabel complained. Drei laughed at her fake grumpy look.

"Creator teached me! I play Eins and Zwei when bored."

"Oh yeah… Is Zwei okay?" Dipper asked, brows furrowing in worry.

"Yes. He in Stan's room getting health. His am break, needed cast, and he much too skinny. But he be okay. We can visits him later to cheer hims up! We can tells him stories abouts our summer."

"Ooh yes!" Mabel said, clapping her hands together happily, chess loss forgotten. But something was still eating at Dipper.

"I'm sorry guys… If I'd been a little stronger, able to save you from being kidnapped, Drei, able to beat Gideon before we fell off the bridge… Everything would have been better…"

"Aw Dipper, no…" Mabel tucked a hand over one of his. "You still kicked Gideon's butt. You're a _hero_. You totally would have knocked him right out if we hadn't fallen off that bridge."

Drei nodded and scooted closer. "Yeses! And when mean childs take me, yous both held backs by big, strong mans. Was impossible! Even me with sharp teeths and scary things didn't win!" He placed one hand on Dipper's shoulder, fingers shaken from his sleeve.

Dipper let out a shuddery laugh, like he'd been brought back from the brink of tears. "You two are right, as always. We'll get into trouble again, doubtless, and we'll always save each other."

"Exactly!" Mabel punctuated. "But Drei, I've been meaning to ask… What was the dealio with those cute little wings? I didn't know you could do that!"

Drei turned slightly red (how someone with black blood could blush red was beyond Dipper but Drei managed it.) "Is not cute! Is intimidating adaptation! All threes of us has one. Supposed to bes able to summon thems at will, but… I not good at it yets."

"You'll get better," Mabel reassured him, while Dipper reassured him that it was still awesome.

"I see you're finally awake, kiddo." Dipper whirled around to see Stan smiling at them. "How's about we order a pizza for dinner? On me."

"Ahhh yes Grunkle Stan that sounds amazing!" Mabel said in excitement.

"Pizza actually is, like, exactly what I want right now," said Dipper, finding it to be surprisingly true. "And a can of Pitt Cola."

"One for your eye and one for your face," Stan teased, pulling the cans out of the fridge. "Whaddaya you say, Drei?"

"If this 'pizza' is goods, I wants to try it! And takes some to Zwei."

"Four unanimous votes, I'll go 'n order." He walked off towards the phone.

Dipper leaned back, smiling for real now.

"Let's hope this peace lasts for a bit. No more bombshell secrets or craziness. Because really… What else could happen?"

All three kids laughed.

* * *

"Psst. Drei." Stan was gently poking at the sleeping teen. "Wake up."

"Hzzm?" came the sleepy reply, and glowing eyes blinked open blearily, still slightly uneven because of the painful bruise.

"I've gotta show you something." Stan turned and walked out of the room, picking up a lantern from the table outside as he did. Curiosity aroused, Drei wriggled out of his sleeping bag and dashed after Stan, bare feet making almost no noise.

They stopped to gather Zwei, who was still unsteady and leaned on Drei's shoulder lightly. Both gasped when they saw Stan enter the code into the vending machine and saw the door swing open.

They looked at each other. _This they knew._

Drei was trembling from excitement as they swept down the stairs. By the time they reached the elevator, he was hopping up and down from excitement. Zwei placed a gentle but firm hand on his head.

"You're gonna bounce your monocle right off, kid."

"I don't wears it to _sleep_ , you silly!" Drei shot back.

"Settle down you two," Stan mumbled as the doors opened. They were greeted by machines blinking in all colors in the darkness. Stan led the way to the far side of the room, setting the lantern down on a desk. Gulping, he hovered a finger over a button, one he knew well.

"Finally. After all these years… I've reunited you all. Now please… Help me."

"Reun-" Zwei didn't have time to finish before Stan pressed the button. The dark panel above the desk proved, yes, to be glass, as Drei and Zwei well knew, with a view into a cavernous room. They could see it now due to the patterns of blue lights dimly outlining a vast structure, a familiar shape of a triangle with a circle in the center…

But the two brothers only cared for the pair of glowing yellow eyes that had opened, the hazy silhouette standing against those blue spots…

Stan smiled. Brothers reunited. Could anything be sweeter?

"Here we go."


	4. Overcoming Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Apr. 15, 2017
> 
> Taken from FF.net posting: "So one guest review seemed worried that I skipped so much; I updated the summary tagline to include 'not in chronological order.' Basically, I write them in the order I feel like. XD If you want to read them in chronological order, please see my profile; there is a section that says 'Some of Things chapters in Order' or something like that, where I will list them in chronological order for you guys!
> 
> So this one here takes place soon after Double Dipper."
> 
> I still need to put the chapter order on this profile but hey if you go to my FF.net one you can find it!
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Somewhere over the Rainbow/Simple Gifts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzF_y039slk) by the Piano Guys

_CRASSHHHH_

Rain lashed at the Shack; Gravity Falls was caught in the grip of a summer thunderstorm, complete with lightning, rain like bullets, and plenty of thunder.

Dipper and Mabel were having their usual late breakfast down in the kitchen, pretty much ignoring the storm. Dipper was propping up a mystery novel against the jug of milk that he'd used for his cereal, spooning the sugary stuff into his mouth with his other hand. Mabel had claimed the leftover pancakes from the previous day, and was drowning them in syrup.

"Hey kids, you know where Drei got off to? We all gotta clean the Shack up from the party last night." Stan had walked into the kitchen holding a mug of coffee, stretching his back.

"Caught a glimpse of him going into the living room," mumbled Dipper, not looking up from his book. He was still trying to take his mind off the failure of last night. He had lost his chance, and Robbie had gotten that dance. _Hey that rhymes,_ he thought absentmindedly. _Always thought poetry was more Mabel's thing…_

"Thanks. You two finish up." He grinned then turned around. "Drei! I'm gonna need you to sweep the Shack! Just leave all the crud on the porch or sweep it into the yard, the rain'll wash it away!"

There was a thready, quavering reply. "N-no.. I don't thinks I'll be wantings to does that."

That tone of voice, high pitched and almost choked up, led Dipper to put his book down and Mabel to resurface with a face full of pancake. "Drei?" Dipper was the first to speak and get up. Mabel, swallowing, and Stan weren't far behind. They reached the living room to see the teen huddled in Stan's armchair and wearing his pajamas (currently Mabel's sweater she made for him and some soft red linen pants they'd gotten him.) His knees were drawn up to his chin and he looked terrified of something, eyes drawn wide and teeth clenched.

"Woah kid, you okay?" Grunkle Stan looked concerned, wondering what had Drei wound so tight. Then thunder shook the house, and while the Pineses didn't blink, Drei his his face against his knees and shuddered.

"Aw Drei… Have you never heard a thunderstorm before?"

"Noes… Lab was soundproofs. Creator never go researching in rain. Equipment get ruins." His voice was tiny and muffled by his own body as he attempted to wrap his arms tighter around himself. Dipper took one look and sighed.

"I'll take him upstairs. Mabel, you can finish your breakfast. Grunkle Stan, I'll come back down and sweep really soon, okay?" Stan nodded, reaching out to pat Drei on the shoulder before tugging Mabel back into the kitchen.

"Come on, Drei." Dipper gently pulled Drei's arm, guiding him in the direction of the attic. Drei slowly uncurled, still shaking a little. He lasted all the way until the stairs before the question that was written all over his face made its way out.

"Dip?" It was said barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?" A nearly as quiet answer.

"Whys is water so dangerous?"

"Well- Huh wait what? _Water?_ " They'd reached the top of the stairs, and Dipper had halted right in front of the door to the attic bedroom. "I thought it was the thunder and lightning that was bothering you."

Drei shook his head. "Theys don'ts help… But wet is scarys… Can hurts… Melts me and make my tattoos washes off." Drei had pushed the door open with a quiet creak and now was hiding himself at the bottom of his sleeping bag. Dipper sat next to him.

"Aw man where did you get that idea? Water is perfectly safe! It's what you drink to stay alive. It's a vital component of our bodies."

"B-but I saws some kids dissolved last nights after theys got sprayed with waters." Oh. _Oh._ All Dipper could think at the moment was that he was incredibly relieved that Drei had not recognized the Dipper-clones as Dipper. He would have _lost it._

"It's okay, Drei. Those guys weren't really humans, they were magical constructs…" This drew a whimper from Drei and then Dipper wanted to punch himself. Of course that wouldn't make Drei feel better…

_Drei was a magical construct._

"No wait I didn't mean it like that, Drei, they were _different_ …" But the teen had already curled into a ball at the very bottom of the sleeping bag. It looked like he wasn't planning on coming out for a while.

Dipper sighed and awkwardly patted the Drei-lump, unsure if it was his head or shoulder or knee. "I… I'll be downstairs helping sweep, okay? You can stay here and calm down a little. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to put it that way…"

He left on the light as he went downstairs.

"Well, Drei is afraid of water," he announced. "Any ideas on how to get him over this?" Mabel looked up from the dustpan she was working with. Stan had vanished to tidy up another section of the Shack.

"Water? Why would he be afraid of water?"

"It's kind of a long explanation, but he thinks he'll melt or dissolve or something, or that all the ink and information will wash off."

"Will it?" Mabel looked at Dipper with questioning eyes.

"I don't know. Only one way to find out. First we have to get him to understand that water isn't gonna actually _hurt_ him…" Dipper was now pacing; he realized this and decided to grab a broom and put his pacing to good use.

"But Dipper… He's a recording device thingy, technically… Aren't recording devices normally paper or techy stuff? And what happens when you dump those in water? Bad things, that's what. What if… What if he's not wrong?" Mabel sounded worried for their friend. Dipper stopped again, looking sick for a moment before his face showed clear relief.

"I understand that way of thinking, but Drei is actually alive. He's got blood, and while it's black, it's still gotta be water based to keep him alive. But besides that, he drinks Pitt Cola! And milk and apple juice! Water is the basis of all of those things, it can't hurt him."

"Oh whew. Well, we can't like trick him, that would be mean… Um…" Mabel tapped her chin. Dipper interrupted.

"Let's think while we clean. Then we can get this done quickly."

And so they did, giving the Shack a vigorous cleaning at Stan's instruction. Occasionally, they called out ideas to one another. Demonstrating how water didn't hurt either of them was shot down because Drei knew water didn't affect humans. (Dipper had suggested having him watch a water ballon war, and Mabel had suggested Dipper demonstrate how to shower. Dipper had shouted the latter idea down before Mabel had even gotten the words out all the way. "What, you're both guys," was Mabel's response.)

"Ya know I can hear you two knuckleheads, right?" Grunkle Stan said as he came into the room. Both whirled around. "You two are missin' the most obvious solution. Dipper, just explain to him what you explained to Mabel earlier. He may not know exactly the way some stuff works, but he ain't dumb. He's got a ton of knowledge, and Dipper, I think nerd-speak is his language too. Mabel, you're all fluffy and encouragin', you can do all the promisin' he'll be fine. Start with maybe a wet washcloth or somethin' similar."

The twins looked at each other and then stared at their great uncle. "Grunkle Stan that's… A really good plan," Dipper said, a bit awed.

"I knew you had a heart in there!" Mabel crowed as a grin split her face. "I'll go get a washcloth!" She got up and sped off, the lightning bolt on her sweater seeming especially apt.

Stan chuckled. "No problem, kiddos." He was reminded of a certain nerd trying to science him to death in order to get Stan over his fears. While it hadn't worked on him very well, he was sure it would be helpful for a fellow nerd. "And ya both did great with the Shack cleaning. Tomorrow we can go get some ice cream, on me."

Dipper grinned. "Thanks for everything Grunkle Stan." Then he ran off after his sister, and Stan was left to chuckle to himself and go back to rearranging merchandise in the gift shop.

* * *

"Okay Drei, did you get all that?" Mabel asked softly. Between the two of them, they'd managed to convince Drei to climb out of the sleeping bag and sit on top of it, still looking nervous. At least the thunder and lightning had moved on, though the rain still pounded on the roof.

"Is did…" he mumbled. "Make sense. Make lots of sense." He picked up the can of Pitt Cola Dipper had brought along to squint at the ingredients list again. Dipper had pointed out that WATER was clearly listed first. He almost didn't believe it. "Buts… I still scared…"

"It's okay! Everyone gets scared!" Mabel promised. She squeezed his hand. "And… We have a way to get you over your fear."

"Yeah, a safe, non-scary way," Dipper promised. "We have a damp washcloth that we can put on the back of your hand. It's not going to do anything. And, just to see if water could wash off your tattoos, I can make a non-necessary entry, and we can try and wipe it off. Sound okay? Simple enough?"

Drei gulped and nodded. Had he pupils, they would have been wide with fright. But… "I'll be doings it. If…. If harmless, I shoulds be getting overs my fear… Rights?"

Mabel beamed. "That's the spirit, Drei! Now…" She picked up the washcloth from the bowl she had put it in. Seemingly without noticing, Drei's other hand snatched up Dipper's just as the back of the one Mabel held went blank of any tattoos. "You ready?"

He closed his eyes and nodded, teeth gritted and canines locked together. Dipper closed a hand around the burn lotion he had stashed under his bed (part of his monster hunting first aid kit.) Without further ado, Mabel plopped the cloth onto Drei's hand.

He flinched, but a second later his eyes opened and he stared down at his hand. "… Its worked!" He looked at Dipper and Mabel in turn. "Guyses! It not hurt me!" His face lit up, grimace transforming into a grin.

"Told you!" Dipper said with a smile of his own.

"Oh yeah high fives!" Mabel held up her hands to both Drei and Dipper. The former had to watch what Dipper did, then imitated him. Then he poked his fingers in the bowl of warm water.

"Feel… Nice." Wet skin was a new sensation for him.

"Wait until you take a shower, or go swimming!" Mabel said in excitement.

"Hold up Mabel, first we have to see if his tattoos are waterproof." Dipper scooted so he was next to Drei's arm, while Drei rolled up his sleeve. "So… Hmm…." He cleared his throat and spoke with intent.

"I'm pretending to write something down."

And the blue scrawl appeared. Drei handed over the washcloth, which Dipper wiped against the marks.

There was no change in the tattoo, nor any ink on the cloth which Dipper checked. He tried again with the same result, then grinned. "Drei, I officially pronounce you fully waterproof."

"Yaaaaaay!" Drei jumped to his feet while Mabel cheered. "I is not afraids any more!"

"No you are not," Dipper agreed, and Drei rolled down his too-long sweater sleeve. Then he took off out the door, which neither twin was expecting. They spared a moment for a shared glance, then ran after him.

They found Stan smiling a knowing smile and counting profits at the register in the gift shop.

"Where's Drei?" Dipper puffed out. Stan chuckled.

"Outside."

"What?" But it was still pouring. Still, Dipper and Mabel went onto the porch and found that their grunkle was right.

Drei was standing, staring at the sky, getting thoroughly soaked. His eyes held a look of wonder; he was gaining a new experience. If only he was able record his own findings on his skin. His uncovered right eye blinked away the drops that hit it while his monocle collected beads of water. His hair had turned a darker color and was plastered to his head, bangs washed away from his forehead. His clothes looked like they were dripping off his small bony frame, but his sleeves were rolled back. The water was allowed to patter on his tattooed forearms and upturned palms.

Then he realized Dipper and Mabel were there and smiled. "Dip and Mabel! Rain are good! Not scary! Come ons!" He beckoned them, then flung his head back and stuck out his tongue to catch the raindrops.

Mabel grinned and tugged off her sweater so she was just wearing the t-shirt beneath, while Dipper removed his vest. Then they left both garments on the old couch on the porch and joined their friend, splashing through puddles and chasing one another and just being happy.

And Drei? Drei was proud of himself for overcoming his fear. He had done it. But he was also extremely grateful that the Pines twins had cared enough to help him.

Best friends, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taken from FF.net posting: "About the "I'm pretending to write something down"… In the episode, Dipper writes it on a clipboard, but it's in the copy of Journal 3! So this is my little idea for this AU of how it got in the journal. XD"


	5. While They Were Sleeping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Apr. 17, 2017
> 
> Taken from FF.net posting: "Well, here's Eins! And his canon art!"
> 
> [Journal 1](https://elentori-art.tumblr.com/post/122552317402/humanized-journal-1-you-can-find-2-here-and-3)
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Transcendence (Orchestral Remix) by Lindsey Stirling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHdkRvEzW84)

It was the night of the discovery of Drei, and everything in the Mystery Shack was quiet and dark. Nobody stirred…

Until, that is, Stan walked silently into the gift shop, punched some numbers into the vending machine with tiny blipping noises, and swung the machine out from the wall. Behind it was a dusty passageway, stairs leading down into darkness and stale air wafting back into Stan's face. He held up the lantern he was carrying, then stepped into the threshold and closed the machine over the secret hatch behind him.

He walked quietly down the stairs into the room below. "Eins? Eins, you down here?"

When he received no reply, he went to the elevator at the end of the room, mumbling. "He can't be in town at this time of night, it's one thirty AM… Unless he went for a drink, but I doubt that."

He arrived at the next level. "Eins? E- OH GOD shit Eins you scared the crap outta me!" Stan clutched at his chest as a pair of yellow eyes glowed at a height slightly higher than his own, right in front of him.

"You frightened me too, Stanley. I heard your call and I was on the way to the elevator when you arrived." Stan held up the lantern to reveal a man in his mid twenties, adjusting copper colored half moon glasses. He was wearing a white dress shirt and a red waistcoat with gold adornments, a bit wrinkled, the breast pocket stuffed with pens and what appeared to be sticky notes. He ran a hand through his well-kempt rusty colored hair and sighed. "Are we working on portal instructions tonight?"

"Nope." Stan was back to grinning, clapping the other more serious male on the shoulder. "I have something _you're_ gonna want to hear for once."

Eins blinked, yellowish eyes wide, making the single freckle below his left eye stand out even more. "Me?"

Usually it was him pleasing Stan with a new bit of research, or surprising him by doing the grocery shopping when he got too bored stuck in this lab. He had access to all the tunnels that his Creator had dug under Gravity Falls, and often journeyed to his Creator's bunker to get to the opening to the outer world. He would go for walks or visit the town and get food for the Shack, sometimes get himself something as well. Stan did pay him for his time, and gave him a place to stay and food and clothes. But sometimes he needed to get out.

He was grateful that Stan let him have that chance.

"Uh huh. Drei, your littlest brother. He's been found." Stan was still grinning like a loon. "Cute kid, too, he's really taken to my great nephew and niece. Though I can tell he has a knack for getting into trouble."

"I…" Eins gaped. One of his brothers, found. He couldn't believe it. It had been _thirty years_ since he'd seen either of them. "Drei… Can I see him?" A smile was spreading across his face.

"Yeah, course." Stan walked back into the elevator. "But… Sorry to do this to you, Eins, but… Can you not wake him? Dipper and Mabel, that niece and nephew I mentioned… They don't know about the portal project, or my brother, or any of that. I wanna keep it that way for now. If we tell Drei you're here, we'll have to explain why, and… He might spill the beans, so to speak." He looked guilty. He didn't want to keep the brothers apart, not at all, but… Dipper and Mabel couldn't know right now.

Eins nodded after a moment. "Yes Stanley I understand. I wish it could be different, but at least I get to see him."

They both walked up the stairs, Stan leading the way, and pushed aside the vending machine. Just in case Eins needed a quick escape, they left it ajar by an inch before creeping up the stairs. Stan extinguished the lantern; he had no idea how heavy a sleeper Drei was, or the kids for that matter. Anyways, they had Eins' glowing eyes to guide them.

The door opened with the thinnest creak and they both moved inside. Mabel snorted in her sleep and Dipper rolled over, but neither woke, and Drei was dead to the world. Having his first waking day in thirty years had taken its toll on him.

"Oh Drei," whispered Eins with a smile. "I'm so glad they found you." He bent his knees and gently brushed some hair away from Drei's face so he could get a better look at him. He could see the faint glow of his closed eyes, his three freckles, the two upper fangs on the right side of his mouth sticking out… He looked perfectly healthy and fine, for which Eins was grateful. Ford's futuristic technology was safe after all.

He straightened after a few moments, murmuring a goodnight, and he and Stan went back to the hallway, shutting the door with a dull click.

"Who found him?" Eins asked immediately, curious.

"Dipper. The kid on the left side of the room," Stan specified. "I send him into the woods to hang up signs and he comes back forty five minutes later, Drei in tow! I have no idea how he did it. Must've found the hiding place for his cryo tube." Stan shrugged.

"He seems curious." Drei had seen the books and papers and puzzles clumped at the end of his bed.

"That he is. Wonder if we could secretly influence him into finding Zwei, huh?" Stan laughed softly. Then he tapped his chin. "I always forget. What's the age gap for you guys again?"

"You know I'm twenty five physically. Zwei appears to be twenty two, and Drei is currently nineteen." He ticked each brother off on his fingers as he spoke.

At each brother's creation date, they appeared to be eighteen. As they gained more information, they appeared to age until they became complete. Zwei and Eins had reached forms they would stay in forever, as long as they lived. Drei was still growing. He only had one year of recording in him, thus his young appearance.

Stan knew about how that part of the magic worked. "So Drei has some growing to do apparently. Maybe that's why his coat is too big." Eins laughed a little, quietly.

"Yes, that would be it. You should have seen Zwei and I. We looked ridiculous; Zwei hated it, especially since I'd already gained this appearance by the time he was created." And Zwei's age had settled when Drei had been made.

"Oh I wish I could have. Hey, how's about we go make some tea and see what's on late night TV, hm?" The kids wouldn't wake tonight; Eins was safe to stay aboveground in the Shack for a little bit.

"That sounds quite good. You choose the channel, I'll make the tea?" Eins offered. Stan nodded.

"Sounds good, kid."

The rest of the night was spent in quiet, victorious companionship, something each rarely got. They spent so much time working on the portal that each forgot to take a break every now and then, especially lately. Stan had seemed to be getting discouraged, at least until the kids came. Eins was glad they had; he had been built on his Creator's hopes, and thus he couldn't let Stan give up after thirty years of trying.

But this night, this important triumph, essential for more than one reason, called for a period of relaxation.

Perhaps, Stan thought, they could do this after all.


	6. At Long Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Apr. 23, 2017
> 
> Taken from FF.net posting: "Well here's that reunion scene you all wanted!"
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Home by Philip Philips](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTg1n95--KE)

The younger two were frozen as they stared through the open doorway at the shadow that could be no one but their oldest brother. There was a quiet moment where the only things that moved were the dust motes floating in and out of the shafts of light the blue bulbs on the structure cast.

And then that moment was shattered as Zwei and Drei ran over, the latter tackling Eins to the ground in a massive hug. Zwei was more reserved, partially due to his broken arm (it had been splinted and put in a sling) and partially due to the fact that he was older than Drei.

Stan leaned in the doorway, grinning at the scene. Someday soon, hopefully very soon… He would have his own happy reunion. Their words floated back to him.

"DREI AND ZWEI!" Eins had cried out right before he was bowled over. "Oof." He landed flat on his back, glasses askew, breath driven from his lungs and Drei flopped on top of him, the younger's arms still wrapped around his chest in a fierce hug. "I missed you too!"

"Eins! Is really you!" Drei looked at him, resting his chin on Eins' chest with a big fanged grin. "What you _doing_ down heres?"

"Yeah, pretty sure we're all wondering that," Zwei said with a chuckle as he finally caught up. Eins eased Drei off of himself gently, though when he sat up, Drei latched his arms around him again.

"I'll tell that story soon, but… Zwei what _happened to you?_ " Eins adjusted his glasses as his eyes widened when he took in the state of his brother. He looked back to Drei and saw that his eyes were unevenly opened, one glowing orb more squinted than the other. "And where did Drei get a black eye?!"

Zwei winced and folded his long legs, sitting on the dusty ground. He was wearing the same red dress pants, though they'd been hastily washed, because Stan hadn't had time to go out and get him new clothes yet, but the old man had donated one of his sleeveless tank top type shirts. Zwei had gratefully accepted; it was easier to get in and out of with the sore broken arm. And it was clean. After taking his first shower in far too long, he wouldn't have wanted to climb back into his dirty clothes. He currently had a tattoo of an octopus-type creature on his right shoulder with the word CYCLOPTOPUS on his forearm.

"It's a long, unpleasant story," he warned. Drei nodded, still clinging to Eins' white shirt.

"Mean baby involveds."

Eins raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

So Zwei launched into his part of the story, starting with how he had been discovered and telling up to being cared for upstairs by Stan. Drei had listened with rapt attention as well; Zwei had been too tired to tell his story earlier, and he'd slept for hours. When it came to the part they both knew, though, Drei would interject with his own little chunk of story. This was often accompanied by wild hand gestures. He had released Eins (for now) and was simply gently leaning against him.

"And thens Stan wokes us up and take us downs here to see yous!" Drei finished happily, folding his hands in his lap. "My side of story is lots nicer, though. Dip and Mabel are verys nice."

Eins had narrowed his eyes at Zwei's revelations of how Gideon Gleeful had treated him. "That child should be happy he is in jail," he said in a deadly serious voice. "Or else he'd have me to answer to." Eins' voice had an additional layer of British accent to it, and for some reason it made him sound more serious. His fingernails began elongating into red-tipped claws before he caught himself and they reverted to normal.

"Sorry there," he said sheepishly, face coloring a little. "I forgot myself. But yes, I'm very happy you two are safe now."

"Cans I tell my stories now?" Drei bounced happily again, looking just about ready to burst. Eins chuckled.

"Of course you can, fire away!"

And fire away Drei did. For someone with a speech impediment of sorts, Drei was quite a good storyteller. He described the day he overcame his fear of water, the afternoon of fighting gnomes, the Mystery Shack party, the night spent battling ghosts at the Dusk 2 Dawn… Eins found himself laughing along, equally amused by the tales and relieved that the youngest had been spared what Zwei went through. Though the fact that the child Dipper had switched to creating journal entries… Perhaps it worked because he was related to their Creator, but… Eins knew that it would have consequences on his youngest brother. Permanent, but at least not harmful. So he smiled.

"That sounds like quite the adventure, wow. Also explains why Stanley didn't visit for a few days…" He rubbed his chin. Zwei sat up from where he'd propped himself up with his one good hand.

"I'm still very interested in hearing that story. After all, dear brother, we told you ours." He grinned, teasing lightly.

Eins laughed. "Okay. But it'll take a while; I wasn't ever frozen like you two were. We have thirty years of catching up to do." He'd gotten the green light from Stan to go ahead and tell them everything. After all, now that all three were living in the Shack, the portal repair would only take maybe a week more at most. Zwei and Drei had to know if they were going to help.

"Firstly, though… How about you come over here and give me a hug too, Zwei? I'll be careful of your arm." The two older brothers grinned at each other and Zwei scooted closer to wrap his arm around Eins. The three then enjoyed the first group hug they had had in thirty years. Eventually, Eins drew back.

"Second… You cannot tell anyone what I'm about to tell you right now. Not Dipper and not Mabel." Eins looked sideways at Drei, who looked downcast but nodded. "Okay. First off… We're going to reactivate the portal."

Twin gasps.

"Are you out of your mind?" Zwei croaked. "Just because you're the hopeful one doesn't mean you can _hope_ the universe won't be destroyed and it won't be!"

Eins rolled his eyes. "Listen to the story. It's about saving our Creator."

He would tell the story with nothing left out or shortened. They deserved the full truth.

"Okay. It all starts with a postcard…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taken from FF.net posting: "So we know Eins' mutation now! The real question is… What is Zwei's? ;) Sorry this one was shorter! It wasn't meant to be a very long scene.
> 
> Also you get a few little mystery tidbits in there! They're be explained later, but hehe have fun puzzling over them for now!"


	7. The Truth Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: May 6, 2017
> 
> From FF.net posting: "Well hello again! There was a request for Scary-oke redone at some point, and while it's not gonna be the same sort of thing as Before the Storm was with the Season 1 finale, I hope this will be just as good (and easier for me to manage; I had to type alongside a lot of the episode and it was very tough when I was writing Before the Storm.) So enjoy! :) "
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Midnight by Coldplay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B9w2EVjiqE)

"Hey Mabel?"

"Hm Drei?"

"Where Dip?"

"I dunno, sorry!" Mabel was currently helping Soos stack Stan-shaped piñatas into a vaguely triangular arrangement. Soos was sneaking the candy out of each one he touched, stashing some in his cap and eating the rest on sight.

"Sorry dude," Soos said through a mouthful of gummy koalas. "Dipper ran off about half an hour ago. Dude looked real determined and all."

"Soos you're gonna eat it all!" Mabel complained, though her words lost their power through a laugh. "You can have some of the extra cookies I baked instead!"

Soos's face lit up and Drei laughed. "You're a genius, girl-dude." Soos followed Mabel back into the Shack with Drei bringing up the rear. He was walking with a slight limp, not because he was hurt, but because he was stuck wearing _shoes._

Stan had insisted, claiming that no 'barefoot hooligans' were allowed at the Mystery Shack Grand Re-Opening Party. "No shirt, no _shoes_ , no service!" he'd said as he rushed around getting things ready. Not before lightly bopping Drei's head with a rolled-up newspaper, though. "Mabel will take ya into town 'n get ya some. Just ask, okay, kiddo?"

Drei knew that Stan was being harried not only by the party but by the portal project too. Still, he couldn't help but scowl at the man as he walked away. Then he'd gone to find Mabel, who indeed had taken him to the mall to buy not only shoes, but an outfit appropriate for the party. Of course, getting him _into_ the mall with no shoes was a struggle (and involved Stan's slippers) but they did it.

A few hours later they left with a pair of red Converse-type sneakers and nicer jeans than the ones she and Stan had originally bought Drei. After much deliberation, Mabel had decided that Drei could just wear the sweater she had made for him. It would look nice enough, and since the town was coming to the event he needed long sleeves to hide his tattoos.

This is what he was now dressed in, and ugh were the shoes annoying. He'd found himself hissing under his breath about them more than once.

"Mabel, cans I has some cookies too?" he asked hopefully, ignoring his discomfort for the moment.

"DREI _there_ you are!" called a slightly exasperated but mostly relieved voice. "I was looking everywhere for you, man!" Dipper had come up behind Drei and the latter whirled around, almost tripping in his new footwear.

"Dip? I was heres the whole time!"

"Ugh, I must've kept missing you." Dipper looked excited and nervous now, grabbing Drei's hand and dragging him down the driveway of the Mystery Shack. "C'mon, there are some people who need to meet you!"

As Drei was led off, he cast a look back over his shoulder at the doorway through which Mabel and Soos had vanished and thought longingly of how much he'd just wanted a cookie.

* * *

"Agent Powers! Agent Trigger! Here he is!" The agents looked at each other skeptically as the kid they'd spoke to over the phone ran up, pulling a small teenager behind him. "Guys this is Drei. He holds a ton of secrets of this town, trust me." He nudged Drei forward.

"Kid, this is a teenager, not this 'magical construct' we were promised."

While Drei was rather frightened, he didn't like the way this mustached man was talking to his friend. "Hey! I is too magical construct, leave Dip alone! He don't lies!"

When Drei began to speak their doubts grew; the teen couldn't even speak correctly. Then they noticed his pupil-less eyes and sharp teeth and the tattoos on the back of his hands. Maybe… Maybe there was some element of truth to this?

And then Drei had rolled back his right sleeve to display the changing tattoos on his forearm and they'd gasped. "What is this?" Agent Powers muttered, leaning closer to Drei. It took most of the bravery the young construct had to not back away, to stand his ground for his best friend. Unfortunately, though, the marks showed the rather ridiculous drawing of the lepricorn.

"What the… Oh come on, that has to be fake," Powers said with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, not funny," Trigger confirmed. "So maybe _he's_ a bit magical but if that kind of stuff is what he has for secrets…"

Dipper's eyes widened. "What?! No it's all true I swear!" He looked frantic, fingers threading into his hair under his hat, about to tear it out.

"Think your uncle was right about that overactive imagination," Powers said, looking disappointed.

"Wait!" Dipper pulled Drei aside. "Give me a spell to read, man! I need to prove that this information is real!" Drei gulped and the first thing that came to his mind rippled into existence on his arm. Without reading what the spell was _for_ , Dipper began to chant in what he recognized as ancient Latin. He couldn't understand what he was saying, however.

Drei could, but it was a short spell and he didn't recognize it in time. "Dip, DON'T!" still escaped his mouth, but too late. A crack opened right behind him and Drei scrambled away as it separated him from Dipper.

"Oh yeah the zombie spell!" Dipper said with a grin, not looking worried at all by the copious amounts of green smoke pouring from the fissure. "I forgot about that one!" He turned to the agents just as a humanoid eldritch horror began clawing its was out of the ground.

"See? An actual zombie! My magic construct best friend is full of _very_ real information." He smirked, not noticing how worried Drei was looking.

"Sweet mother of all that is holy!" exclaimed Powers as he backed off, pulling Trigger with him.

"What, it's just one zombie," assured Dipper with a laugh as he dodged a swipe of the decomposing upper body. The agents continued backing off, gaping. Trigger could only stammer.

"Kid," Powers began. "We've been chasing the paranormal for a long time, but nothing prepared us for this!" And they hadn't; they were usually two people on surveillance or reading over notes from the lab, not directly in the field. This was only their third field mission, and the other two had ended up with the agents chasing after some faked anomaly.

"Pfft I can get rid of it. Drei can you come show me the zombie section again?"

"D-Dip, I… I DON'T REMEMBERS HOWS TO FIX IT!" he wailed, and suddenly more cracks broke open all around him and he staggered back. More and more of the undead monstrosities lurched toward Dipper, Powers, and Trigger, much more dangerous because these had _legs_. Powers smashed the closest, the original, over the head with a rock, then he and Trigger fled into the woods, leaving Dipper to dash to Drei and drag him back to the Shack.

"What… Do you mean… You don't remember?!" Dipper huffed as he ran. The ground was shaking again, and he could hear the newly arrived partygoers at the Shack screaming… The screaming was getting fainter as the patrons fled back towards town, thankfully in the opposite direction…

"I means I don'ts know!" Drei cried out, dragging Dipper now since the twelve-year-old had shorter legs.

"DIPPER!" Mabel shrieked once they came into view, looking furious. "What's the _one thing_ I asked you not to do tonight?"

"Raise the dead," he mumbled, thinking back to the previous conversation they'd had on the subject, earlier that day, about him not spoiling the party. It seemed bitterly ironic now.

"And what did you just do?"

"He raiseded the dead," Drei answered helpfully, just as the groaning of zombies drew closer.

"Stay back dudes!" Soos jumped in front of the three as the horde shambled into view. "I've seen enough zombie movies and played enough games to be, like, a pro at this. We gotta get to the golf cart–" And that was wrecked by five zombies all at once, as if they'd heard and understood. "And there goes that idea, whoops," said Soos. Even he looked nervous now.

And the zombies kept coming, not just moaning now but snarling and frothing like rabid dogs, yellow eyes gleaming like a feral version of Drei's. "Get behind me," Soos said. "I got… OW!" And he got chomped on the shoulder while the twins and Drei gasped. He managed to pull away, but the large man had gone extremely pale and his eyes were now glowing too.

Mabel, Dipper, and Drei finally screamed.

The trio bolted away, Dipper clutching a shovel and Mabel dragging the karaoke machine after her.

"Stop running, dudes! Only makes your brains look tastier!" Soos called from around the corner.

"Where do we go, where do we go?!" Dipper was hyperventilating as he whacked at a zombie with the shovel. Even with his weak arms he managed to knock it over and subsequently bash its brittle head in. Mabel took out the next by smacking its head clean off with the karaoke machine.

"This thing makes a good weapon!" she yelped as they backed towards the Shack.

"Waits… DOOR!" Drei felt the handle of the gift shop door pressed into his back and opened it. The three tumbled inside and Drei sprang up to slam the door so hard a crack webbed across the glass. "Let's gets to attic!"

His zombielike eyes were wide and full of fear; this was far, far worse than when he had been scared of rain. But Dipper dropped the shovel with a clang and they pelted to the stairs.

"Aw c'mon, guys! I just let these dudes into the fuse box, I'm like, a genius among them. Go get those brains, dudes!" Soos's haunting words echoed through the hallways along with shattering glass as the lights flickered out. Drei and Mabel and Dipper had made it to the living room when the karaoke machine got caught on something and Mabel tripped. Dipper bent down to help her up, and when they both stood…

A skeletonized hand clawed right through the wood of the living room wall and grabbed Dipper's arm near his shoulder, hoisting the small boy right off his feet and eliciting a shriek from him, his sister, and his friend.

"Oh no, no no no!" Dipper screamed as he thrashed around and was maneuvered ever closer to the gaping jaws and void-like eyes. "Mabel! Drei! HELP!" His head was small enough to fit in that mouth with its snakelike, dislocated jaws and he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for sickening pain–

It never came. Instead there was a snarl and a red blur flashed by and bit down on the zombie arm, spluttering at the bad taste. "NOBODY HURTS THEMS!" Drei screeched as he did his best to rip the zombies to pieces. Those wings they had only seen once before had reappeared, flapping madly as their owner subdued the struggling foe. When the zombie was once again dead, Drei whirled on the others, green streaking his face and hands.

Dipper had scrambled back up and was clinging to Mabel, who clutched him back, in shock. Drei saved his life. The construct had torn through three more zombies with tooth and nail, though he was grimacing at the taste.

"Woo go Drei!" called Mabel weakly. They probably should have ran to the attic, but they couldn't, under any circumstances, simply abandon Drei to fight alone.

Which turned out to be good when one of the abominations sunk its teeth into Drei's forearm, calling forth the black blood. Drei screamed, a terrible sound, as more hands clawed at him and he tried to tear his arm free.

"No!" Dipper cried out. It was over. Drei would become a zombie and he'd kill them all, with his speed and sharp teeth. But he hadn't changed yet…. Never-the-less, Dipper tried to run to his friend's aid, but before he could… A figure swinging a baseball bat crushed the monsters' skulls into dust, leaving Drei to drop in a heap on the ground, cradling his injured arm close, sweater sleeve drenched in black.

It was Stan. He had been taking care of Zwei when he heard the commotion and had barricaded the room so the unholy terrors couldn't get to the injured man. Then he'd gone after the others.

"Kids! Attic! Now!"

"B-but Drei!" Dipper said in a terrified squeak, eyes not moving from his best friend.

"I said NOW, kid! I got Drei!" And he hefted the stunned teen over one shoulder, fending off the horde with the bat with the other hand. Dipper and Mabel took off for the stairs, and Stan followed as close behind as he could. He was still swinging at zombies when they closed and barricaded the door.

They were safe for the moment, the room suffused with an eerie purplish glow from the spare blacklights cast about the floor. Stan moved so he was cradling Drei in a more comfortable position and the teen whimpered. His wings had wrapped around his stomach, trembling slightly.

Why hadn't he turned into a zombie? Was it because he was a magical being, because he didn't have human blood? They didn't know, but the twins were grateful. Stan laid him on Dipper's bed and the boy pulled the first aid kit out from underneath it. Working together, the old man and the not-quite-teen cut the sweater sleeve off at the elbow and disinfected and bandaged the wound.

Mabel guarded the door, listening intently to the two working behind her. She held a golf club aloft, and Waddles stood next to her, oinking intently.

"Damn!" came Stan's exclamation when he noticed black leaking sluggishly from one of Drei's ears. The screams must have reopened the wounds from two days previously. Stan had thought the teen would be okay; both he and Dipper were healing nicely.

"Grunkle Stan, language!" said Mabel reflexively.

A few tense minutes passed and then Stan stepped away from the woozy figure in the bed. He and Dipper then further jumped when they got a big surprise. Mabel whirled around.

The weird, almost alien light had hit Drei's huddled form and the results were shocking. His eyes were no longer yellow but pure white, no iris distinguishable from the rest. More tattoos, layers over the old ones, could be seen glowing purple, shifting as the black marks shifted. He apparently had invisible ink tattoos. His teeth glowed. The wings hugging his midsection gave off a faint luminescence as if each hair was tipped with glowing paint.

"Drei. You're glowing." Mabel was the first person to speak.

"Ohs. I forgets I did this," came his weak voice as his bright eyes wandered over his form. Then his eyes widened. "I remembers now! Dip, come!" he beckoned to the boy, and Dipper immediately moved to his side. "Dip, there a way to beat zombies here! No remember without blacklight. Look!" He reached up with his non-injured left hand and tapped his right cheek. A tattoo, the one he'd seen before about zombies, shimmered into existence. "Hold up light!"

And Dipper did.

The answer was revealed. "Three part harmonies can shatter the skulls of zombies!" Dipper yelped. "That's it! Drei you're amazing!" He wondered why Drei could only remember his secret entries when the blacklight shone on him, but now wasn't the time to ask. "I have a naturally high-pitched scream," he offered.

"I can make weird noises with my body, sometimes even on purpose," Stan said with a tired shrug.

"Boys, you're missing the obvious solution here! Karaoke!" Mabel still had that infernal machine, they saw, sitting next to Waddles.

"No way," Dipper said, shaking his head.

"But it has to be a _harmony_ , meaning we all have to do the same thing at the same time in different matching pitches! What do you call that?" She looked annoyed.

"… Singing," Dipper sighed.

"I can sing insteads of Dip," Drei offered, propping himself up a little. Stan sighed.

"Sorry kid, but you're injured. Also… Don't get, y'know, offended by this, but… Since we apparently all need to, ugh, _sing_ the same thing at the same time… The way you speak wouldn't allow that to be real possible, you know?" Stan looked guilty.

And Mabel looked sad. "Drei, you gotta stay here and protect Waddles for me. That's a really, really important job." She walked over and settled the pig next to the bed. "And after all this, I'll teach you to sing if you want. And I'll knit a new sleeve for your sweater. Promise!" She smiled down at him, and he smiled back. Then she held out a tentative hand to one trembling wing, as if waiting for permission.

In response, the wing moved up to brush her fingers, and she pet it gently. "Tickles," Drei said with a slight laugh.

"So fuzzy," Mabel giggled in response.

"We'll be back soon, kid," said Stan with a smile of his own. Dipper set the blacklight on the nightstand and looked at Drei.

"I promise we'll be right back." He squeezed one of Drei's hands gently, and the teen watched as Mabel used her grappling hook to get them out the window and onto the roof. He listened with a soft smile as they made the announcement to their 'listeners' and as Mabel announced them as 'Love Patrol Alpha' and Dipper called "I did not agree to that name!" He recalled an argument about that when they were setting up for the party.

He ran his hand down Waddles' back as he heard them singing. Mabel was pretty good, and regardless of what the twelve-year-old thought of himself, Dipper wasn't bad either. Stan was… Stan.

But they did it. They saved everyone.

Except…

Except Soos.

And as the Pines came back into the room through the window, they seemed to realize that. Drei heard Mabel mumbling about Soos and looking a little haunted after the carnage she'd just witnessed. Dipper was silent but looked no better. Only Stan didn't realize that Soos had become a zombie.

He seemed pretty happy as they unblocked the door and guided Drei down the stairs to properly clean up his arm.

"We showed those undead freaks, huh kids?" he said with a big grin. They were sitting at the kitchen table inspecting the ragged bite marks in Drei's skin and debating whether he needed stitches.

"I think we're okay with just bandages," a subdued Dipper said in way of reply. Stan's face fell.

"Okay, fess up you two. What's wrong? We won and you still look like zombies are gonna take over Gravity Falls."

Mabel's eyes began brimming with tears. "I-it's Soos, he was turned into a–"

"Hey dudes you got any brains I could eat?"

Stan jumped and threw a chair to block Soos's path. "KILL IT KILL IT!"

"Waits!" Drei yelped. "I have un-zombification solution recipe! We can saves Soos!"

Everyone froze. "What, really?" asked Dipper, a grin coming back to his face. Drei nodded, calling up the potion list on his face since his usual spot was obscured in bandages.

Mabel jumped up and down happily. "Ohmygosh we can get Soos back!"

"Hehe this chair is annoying," laughed Soos, not able to maneuver past the obstacle. "I really want those brains. Bet you taste delicious, dudes."

"Yous guys sure didn't taste good," Drei said, wrinkling his nose. "Zombie taste bad. Like moldy cookie. But _worses._ "

Even Stan had to smile, after he stopped clutching his chest. "Okay kids what do we need?"

Dipper leaned closer to Drei's smiling face.

"Well, first of all, a lot of formaldehyde…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From FF.net posting: "Whee there we go! I wouldn't normally tell you guys what's up next, but to get the hype going… Hopefully it's gonna be a darker version of Sock Opera! The fact that Drei is a person really opens up the idea that the episode would be a lot darker… It's gonna be great! That might not be directly next, but it'll be coming up soon! I might choose to do a shorter one-shot first though, I'm not sure!
> 
> There is also a planned Drei's Birthday Special in the future. He actually has a true canon birthday, and the first person to get the date right can request a scene they want to see in that one-shot! :D (The other two brothers won't be in it, alas.)
> 
> Wheee this is all gonna be great!"


	8. Lifeblood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: May 19, 2017
> 
> From FF.net posting: "Sorry Sock Opera didn't come next; it's proving tough to write and I don't have a title for it yet! So have another short bit of fluff explaining some of the journal brothers' logistics and anatomy… And poor Drei's confusion!"
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Rainbow Veins by Owl City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NuZjhlNwPk)

Dipper was pouring over the notes he had taken from Drei's tattoos. He had them pinned up on a board along with all sorts of pictures of people and places, some connected by red thread. With the back end of a pen, he was poking at the twine and muttering to himself.

The boy had hit a roadblock in his search for the Creator of Drei and his missing brothers. Drei himself was sitting on his sleeping bag, attempting to knit a scarf after Mabel had taught him a few days previously.

"But how is this connected to this?" Dipper said under his breath, wrapping spare thread around his finger and putting the end of the pen in his mouth, furrowing his eyebrows and staring hard at his board.

Everything was quiet for a moment until there was a sharp snap, a yelp, and a spluttering noise. Drei looked up in concern and saw Dipper holding a broken pen and looking startled, black liquid dribbling down his chin.

And he _shrieked_. "Dip! You is bleeding!" In a flash he had scrambled onto the bed and was trying to get a good look at Dipper's face.

"Ack! Drei what're you doing?!" Dipper dropped the broken pen and tried to swipe at his face with his forearm but Drei had seized his head to stop him from squirming and was inspecting the darkened skin intently. "Hey! I'm not-"

"It okay ifs you hurt," Drei said, squinting. "What happens?"

"I broke a pen! I didn't hurt myself!" He finally succeeded in wriggling out of his friend's grip, spitting ink into a hand and looking disgusted at the taste. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to clean up." Dipper jogged out of the room to the bathroom, leaving Drei helplessly confused on his bed. When Dipper walked back into the room, clean and unhurt, Drei relaxed marginally.

"Oh Dip I though you was _dying_ ," he said plaintively. "That was lotses of blood."

Dipper looked quizzical. "Drei, that was ink from a pen, not blood… I was, um, chewing on a pen and it snapped. It's a bad habit I have." He looked sheepish, but still confused. "Why would you think that was blood?"

"It look like my blood," replied Drei quietly. Slowly, he raised his index finger to the fang sticking out of the right side of his mouth and bit down on it, not too hard. But when he held out said finger, there was an inky black drop pooling from the small puncture, shimmering with an almost oily sheen. "My bloods is ink."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Woah… Is that was causes your tattoos to appear?" Drei nodded, and Dipper held out a tissue from the box on the nightstand. "You didn't have to hurt your finger to show me. I would've believed you," the boy continued, climbing off the bed to get his first aid kit. After a bit of rummaging, he got a small bandaid and instructed Drei to hold out his finger. After sticking the small square over the cut, Dipper sat next to Drei on the bed again.

"Is just want to show your," Drei said with a shrug.

He didn't know the exact logistics on how his blood worked. It could somehow create tattoos of any color on his skin, could color his cheeks red with blush like a human and make his skin tint blue when cold, but in the form of his blood it was always a pure, deep black. It was possible it simply contained all colors and just ended up looking black, and that Drei has some sophisticated magical or anatomical system to extract and separate each color when needed.

But the only one who would know for sure was Drei's Creator.

"That's kinda cool, though. Wonder if you could get a transfusion with, like, normal ink from the store."

Drei had gone back to his knitting what looked to be a tortured scarf. "What is transfusion?" he asked, trying to keep the bandaid from getting stuck to his red yarn.

"It's when, if someone bleeds too much, they get new blood put in their body from an outside source," Dipper said.

"Oh, I think I maybes heard of thats, long time ago," Drei said with a nod.

"Yeah… How about we don't need an opportunity to find out if your blood is compatible with regular ink. Sound good?" Dipper offered a grin to Drei and it was returned.

Though Dipper didn't know it yet, this peculiar body composition accounted for some of the peculiarities of Drei that set him apart from true humans. It accounted for his fears of water and fire, ink being able to run in water and also being quite flammable. It caused his eyes to glow and his tattoos to shift. He had magic in his veins, truly.

"Sounds goods," Drei agreed. "No hurts for me." Then he looked curious. "What color is your blood, then?"

"Red," Dipper said. "Always red."

"Right, I forgotses that too. Been asleeps long time, needs to get back to remember things!" Drei laughed a little.

"It's okay, Drei. I have a hard time waking up my brain after a few hours of sleep. You were asleep for thirty years! I think you have a bit of an excuse, man." Dipper laughed along. "I should probably change my shirt though." He looked down to see small black drops on the fabric.

"Probablies," Drei agreed. "Blood or nots-blood, being messy is annoyings."

"Wanna go downstairs and get lunch after?" Dipper said, already shuffling around the clothes in his drawer to find a clean shirt.

"Definitelies!" agreed Drei.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From FF.net posting: "Ink really is flammable! See youtube for videos! (If you have a magical construct at home, do not show these videos. They will panic.)
> 
> Sock Opera is next, I promise! Then the fated Chapter 10 I promised so long ago. ;)"


	9. Playing With Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is insanely long. I am so sorry lol. Also warning for themes of murder, self harm, mock suicide, basically all the stuff in this episode of the show but more intense
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Jun. 2, 2017
> 
> From FF.net posting: "Here's that promised Sock Opera chapter! Hope you enjoy! A lot of ideas in this came from my amazing friend Evbay of FlightRising! I actually can speak a few phrases in Caesarian (3-letter shift, the one from the show) and I'm working on learning more! I have this episode practically memorized; it's my favorite!
> 
> Warning: gets a little dark towards the end."
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Demons by Imagine Dragons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQYaoiIFh8)

Neither Dipper nor Mabel nor Drei knew exactly the kind of insanity and horrors the next few days would bring. In fact, things seemed to be going great! The trio was headed to the library to check out some books on passwords and codes. The laptop had been fixed up and Dipper had powered it on that morning, only to be met with a grating beep that let the entire Shack know that the thing was password-protected.

So the boy had asked his grunkle if the three of them could please go to the library to find tips on how to crack a laptop password. Grunkle Stan, face grinning even before the sentence was over, gave them the all clear for the possibly illegal action.

So that's what they were doing.

"I wonder what's on here!" Dipper was babbling to the only two people around to listen. "Maybe you'll finally remember who your Creator is! Like his actual name!"

Drei looked just as excited. "Exactlies! I can finds out everythings! This is be amazing!"

"I know!" Dipper's voice squeaked in the middle and he blushed, looking mortified. Mabel laughed and tapped his shoulder with a fist.

"Haha bro-bro, nerding out again?"

"Maybe a little," he said, trying to shove as much dignity into his tone as he could muster. They'd reached the library steps and Dipper led the way into the cheerful building. He practically dragged Drei and Mabel over to the sections on codebreaking and technology and similar things. "Okay so there's this one author on these kinds of subjects that's really good, I remember…" he murmured aloud to them.

Well, to Drei anyways. He was certainly interested in the topic. Mabel was… Less so. She was more interested in the strange strumming noises echoing through the library. So she had peeked around the edge of the shelf and wandered off to find what was making that peculiar noise.

Dipper didn't notice she was gone at first. He was gesturing to Drei, getting slightly off topic about Caesar ciphers, and Drei was nodding animatedly.

"I can speaks that!" he said happily. "Khb!" He said it like cay-heb. "Thats is meaning 'hey.'" Dipper chuckled.

"That so cool! Mabel, isn't that…" Dipper turned, trailing off when his twin wasn't spotted right behind him. "Oh come on, where did she go?!" Drei shrugged.

"She go to follows the weird music, I thinks." Dipper groaned.

"She promised to help though! Let's go find her…" He split up the books evenly between him and Drei, then, tucking his load under his arm, led the way to find his sister. Dipper and Drei caught up with her as she was waving goodbye to a blond boy with… Puppets on his hands? What? She looked their way with a huge grin on her face, then seemed surprised to see them. A red blush crept over her cheeks.

"Hey Dipper…" she said as she walked up. Her tone was questioning, and Dipper already _knew_ that he was going to be asked a favor.

"Yes, Mabel?" he answered, vaguely suspicious that her request was going to be ridiculous.

"How long do you think it would take to write a sock puppet rock opera with original music and a light show?" She was grinning a winning, slightly guilty grin.

Dipper's stomach dropped. "Mabel! You promised you would help me with this!" He used his free hand to gesture at the books he was holding, and the stack in Drei's arms.

"Yous did promise," admitted Drei sheepishly. "Plus socks is uncomfortable." He looked down at his shoe-clad feet again.

"I got carried away!" Mabel said desperately. "Gabe was just so perfect, ahhhhhh! He likes puppet shows and if he's gonna be my boyfriend, I gotta impress him with this! Pleeeease? It's for _love_ , Dipper," she added, giving her brother the puppy-dog eyes.

He couldn't resist that look, just as he couldn't resist her sadness over losing Waddles or her desperation to help Mermando. "Oh… Fine alright, I'll help. If we get it done quick, then we can go back to cracking this password." Mabel squealed.

"You're the best!" Then she _shouted_ in the _library_. "This guy! He's number one!"

Dipper made a noise like a mouse being stepped on. "Mabel! Shhhhhhh keep it down!" His twin giggled, but stopped shouting.

"Get what you need, bro-bro?"

"Yes. Hopefully we can get to this before the books are due."

They walked to the front of the library, all three discussing both passwords and the purpose of sock puppets for Drei's benefit under their breath.

* * *

A day and a half passed. Mabel, Dipper, and Drei bought out all the socks in nearby thrift stores, then began to make heaps of puppets. Even Soos and Wendy got in on the act. Stan was so busy tending Zwei and disappearing for strange periods of time that he never did catch on to what they were up to.

Mabel was teaching Drei to sing, and the young construct didn't actually have too bad of a voice. He did garble all the lyrics to every song thrown his way, but Mabel didn't mind and neither did Drei from the looks of it. In that day and a half, it was common to hear lyrics like "baby you's a firework, going on shows us what you's worth!" floating through the halls of the Shack.

Parallel to all of this insanity, Dipper had spent his sock-free nights on the password. He pulled all-nighters trying eight-letter word after eight-letter word, to no avail. Both Mabel and Drei had assaulted him with pillows at night to get him to stop the infernal buzzing caused by every wrong entry. He'd waited until they were asleep until he'd tried some more.

He'd get some sleep that night. This sock crisis was almost over, just a few more minutes until Mabel would be back to help him, though he felt a little worse for wear (it had taken far too long to pick the threads out of his shirtsleeve he'd sewn shut.) He could afford a little rest tonight, then Mabel and Drei would be able to help him, with an interlude the night after for Mabel's play.

Things would be okay.

Dipper was trying to get a sock un-stuck from his face when he heard a squeal from his sister coming from outside. She was supposed to be giving her props to Candy and Grenda so they could finish them up while Soos and Wendy drove the larger stuff to the theater. What could she possibly be fangirling about? The boy sighed and walked to the doorway, finally yanking the puppet from his cheek and rubbing the red spot it left behind. He made it to the door only to see the boy Mabel had been obsessing over in the yard.

The tired twelve-year-old rubbed his eyes and sighed as he heard this guy, Gabe, spout random puppet nonsense that obviously made as little sense to Mabel as it did to Dipper (though she was going to great lengths to hide it.)

Dipper heard soft footsteps behind him. "That Mabel's puppet-boy?" came Drei's voice, quiet so it wouldn't carry into the yard.

"Yeah, Gabe Whatever-his-name-was," Dipper responded. "Maybe this conversation will make her more confident in her puppet show."

"I hopes so… Singing lessons is fun, but I excited to cracks code." At least Drei seemed to be on his side.

But far from reassuring his sister, by the time Gabe left, Mabel had been sent into a tizzy, whipped into an even crazier frenzy. "We gotta up our game!" she shouted, along with something about stitches which didn't register with Dipper at all. He only knew about three kinds of stitches: the ones you put in your shirtsleeve (accidentally), the kind you got in your side when running away from a monster, and the sort you'd need at a hospital when your sister's plan came crashing down on top of you, probably literally.

But then she grabbed her box of socks back and barreled back into the Shack. "Dipper! We need a lint roller, stat!"

"What?!" Dipper caught Mabel's elbow as she flew by. "You promised Candy and Grenda would be putting on the finishing touches and you'd help me out a little! I know this nerdy stuff isn't really your thing, but you promised. You're obsessed with this guy!"

" _I'm_ obsessed? Look at you Dipper! You haven't slept in days! It's a miracle Drei and I have gotten any sleep with that annoying beeping twenty-four-seven! You need to lighten up, you're too obsessed with these crazy secrets."

Drei's mouth was hanging open as he watched the two siblings argue. He couldn't believe it; this was the first legitimate argument the two had had that he'd seen. So all he could do was stand there, too-big coat nearly falling off his narrow shoulders, and gape in shock.

"Ugh… Fine! Fine, I'll go do it on my own." Dipper turned and began to stride back to the Shack. Drei finally shook off enough of his paralysis to grab Dipper's wrist.

"Dip, you wants me to help?"

Dipper scowled. "No thanks. I'm going to do this on my own and prove to Mabel I don't need her help!" He swatted the hand away and proceeded to stalk into the Shack alone. He completely missed the hurt look on Drei's face.

* * *

Dipper was having a hard time staying awake. The boy's eyes refused to stop drooping and the warm, safe environment of his room was making him even sleepier than he normally would have been. He decided that that wouldn't do. He still had a two-page list of passwords to get through that night!

So Dipper shrugged on the only thick jacket he'd brought and scooped up his notes, research, and laptop. Then he climbed out to the roof, to the place Wendy had show he and Mabel at the beginning of the summer. He plopped down with a can of Pitt Cola, leaning back against the roof and propping the laptop up on his knees. Dipper took one look at the blinking green password prompt and sighed.

"Mabel. Is. Useless," he mumbled before yawning, tapping in another password only to have it spit back in his face. "Ugh… Who else knows about passwords and secret codes?" He rubbed his eyes, bone-weary and feeling more exhausted than ever.

"I THINK I KNOW A GUY."

The wind started blowing, the moon was turning blue, and lightning was flashing through the air. Dipper's heart jackhammered in his chest. The fears that had been awoken by that echoey voice were confirmed when the lightning took on a triangular shape and gained an eye. Then bricks filled in the middle and soon the world was grayscale and Dipper was facing that dapper demon Bill Cipher, back pressed up against the roof shingles.

"HEY PINE TREE. YOU MISS ME? ADMIT IT, YOU MISSED ME." The triangle smirked, crinkling his eye to imitate the human gesture. Dipper scowled. He didn't have time for this ludicrous creature.

"We defeated you!" he said, glaring.

Bill rolled his eye. "AHAHA YEAH. YOU 'DEFEATED' ME. SURE, KID."

"Ugh what do you want from me?" Dipper asked irritably. He didn't have time for this creep, he still had passwords to try!

"YEESH RELAX, KID! I'M JUST HERE TO HELP." The geometric figure perched on the edge of the roof, not quite touching it but lending energy to the wood that made Dipper's feet tingle even through his shoes. "I JUST REQUIRE A SMALL… _FAVOR_ IN RETURN."

Bill's hand flashed bright blue with a flicker of flame before he closed his small fist and it was snuffed out.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone!" Dipper hugged the laptop to his chest, eyeing Bill suspiciously. He definitely did not trust that triangle, not after working with Gideon and certainly not after the warnings from Drei about the interdimensional being. He would not associate himself with Bill Cipher.

"AW BUT KID! I'VE TAKEN A LIKING TO YOU! IN FACT, I THINK YOU'VE EARNED A LITTLE REWARD!" Bill tapped his face below his eye in an imitation of the human gesture of tapping a chin. "I KNOW! HERE, HAVE A HEAD THAT'S ALWAYS SCREAMING!" The demon clapped his hands and indeed, a blue translucent bearded screaming head his the rooftop with a thump. Dipper yipped and hopped back, wanted to cover his ears but deciding to protect the laptop instead. Then the head peeled away along with the screams.

Bill was laughing and that just made Dipper even more paranoid. That freaky, echoing tone couldn't be signifying anything good. "I'm not making any deals with you!" he insisted. "I mean it, man! You worked with Gideon! I can figure this out on my own, now go away!"

"THAT WAS JUST A JOB, KID, NO HARD FEELINGS. BUT HEY, I'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE. YOU KNOW WHO TO CALL IF YOU WANNA MAKE A DEAL!" Bill stretched out the last word as he poked at Dipper, each feeling like a static shock. Dipper scowled. "HEY WANNA SEE ME DO AN IMPRESSION OF WHAT YOU'LL LOOK LIKE IN ABOUT TWO SECONDS?"

"What?"

But all Bill did was shriek in a squeaky voice and flail his arms, and suddenly Dipper was awake and doing the same thing. He looked around. No yellow, no greyscale, no triangles, and no blue moon. He sighed. "What a freaky dream, huh? Bill. Ugh, that guy."

He spent the rest of the night not only going through the two pages he had planned on but a whole eight pages of password attempts. And he didn't get a wink of sleep, though he crawled back inside the Shack right before dawn. He felt crappy and his mind was muddled and he hated it. When he went to the bathroom to pee at around six in the morning, he noticed bags under his eyes so prominent that there was no way anyone could ignore them.

He groaned. Drei and Mabel and Stan would all be asking questions. He just knew it.

Dipper was right. The first thing he heard when he walked into the kitchen, yawning, was Grunkle Stan teasing him.

"Yeesh! Bag check for Dipper's eyes. Anyone?" He looked around, getting only a confused expression from Drei.

"What's that means?" And then Stan had to explain the joke to Drei as Dipper got himself a bowl of cereal. At least the attention was off him.

"Dipper, what did I tell you?" Mabel scolded. Well, maybe not _all_ attention was off him. Dipper groaned. "You stayed up all night again, didn't you? You look like a vampire, and not the hot kind."

"Go away Mabel," Dipper said, not looking at anything but his cereal that he was spooning into his mouth. He knew she was about to retaliate when footsteps, slightly uneven, echoed into the kitchen. Only then did Dipper look up.

Zwei was standing there, arm in a sling, looking disheveled and like he'd just rolled out of bed. For now he continued to wear sleeveless shirts like Stan, easier to put on one-armed. He now had black sweatpants though (everyone knew Stan had bought him new clothes; the old man had come back grumbling about how the kids would make him broke, bags in hand) and generally looked far more comfortable than he had earlier in the week.

"Zwei!" Drei chirped. "You is feelings better!"

"Yeah," Zwei said with a wry smile and a chuckle. "I am."

"Zwei is helping out in the gift shop today, so we can close early to go see Mabel's… whatever," Stan explained.

"And I'm starving, so maybe pass that box?" Zwei asked, sitting across from Dipper and gesturing at the cereal.

"Sure, man." Dipper handed him the box, then went back to his own slightly soggy breakfast. Dipper's breakfast continued to be a quiet affair as he ignored Mabel chattering away to Drei and Stan making sure Zwei knew what to do in the Gift Shop. The second construct would be wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes, just in case.

When he was done, the boy got up and silently slunk back upstairs. No one tried to stop him. He knew Drei was upset and didn't want to make Dipper mad again, but the twelve-year-old was too tired and grumpy to care. He holed himself up in the unoccupied attic room with the laptop, red window glass dying the room crimson like it was sunset instead of before noon.

"I. Hate. This. Sound," Dipper growled as he tried another combo only to hear the harsh noise of denial. He wanted to slam his face into the keyboard, internet style, but that would expend energy and all he wanted to do was sleep. Crack the password… Sleep… He didn't know which he wanted more.

His eyelids did. They seemed to be closing on their own… But then he snapped upright and rubbed them. No. No sleep. Not yet. But…

The room had been bleached of bright colors. Dipper groaned even before the geometric annoyance showed up, and spat out "not you again!" before Bill could speak.

"YEESH PINE TREE." Bill rolled his large eye. "I TOLD YOU, KID, I'M HERE TO HELP YOU. REALLY. MY PRICE IS SMALL."

Dipper raised a skeptical eyebrow, drawing the laptop closer. "Yeah, sure. What do you want? My soul? To rip out my teeth? You wanna take my eyes and replace them with… With… _Baby heads_ , or something."

Bill cackled. "PARANOID, MUCH? RELAX PINE TREE! ALL I WANT IS A PUPPET. EVERYONE LIKES PUPPETS! AND IT SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE A SURPLUS." With the air of a curious if triangular cat, Bill floated over to a stack of Mabel's puppets and flicked one.

"Those aren't mine! They're Mabel's. I'd never give them away!" protested Dipper, fingers digging into the back of the laptop as Bill's voice grated on his nerves.

"OH REALLY? AND WHAT HAS YOUR SISTER DONE FOR YOU LATELY?" Bill asked, looking unimpressed. His body flickered with Dipper's memories, shown in the third person, and Dipper shuddered as he remembered Bill stating that he was watching them. "ALL I SEE IS YOU SACRIFICING FOR HER AGAIN AND AGAIN… SINCE WHEN HAS SHE RETURNED THE FAVOR? HM?"

Dipper should have known he was being manipulated. He really, really should have. But his brain was tired and his heart was hurt and he really, really just wanted to crack this password so he could sleep for a year. "Just… Just one puppet?" he asked quietly, right hand unclenching from the laptop slightly.

"YEP. THAT'S ALL I NEED," Bill stated plainly. Then he floated slightly higher and stuck out his right hand. Flames crackled to life on the four black fingers, enveloping the demon's hand to his wrist, a flash of cerulean staining the wood purple as it blended with the window light.

Memories were still flickering through Dipper's head. All the times he'd given up something for Mabel. He loved his sister, he really did, but… Would this be the rest of his life? Would he always have to sacrifice his biggest dreams for his sister's whims? He knew he would always continue to put her first, but he couldn't help thinking of how… Hurt he'd be if all his dreams came to nothing just to help her all the time. And… She didn't really seem to notice that he gave up his own happinesses for hers. Oh, she always thanked him (his ribs had ached for a week after the hug he'd gotten after allowing her to go back in time and save Waddles.) but did she really think about how it affected him?

He didn't know. She was the impulsive one while he was the thinker. He hoped she saw that sometimes his actions for her, though voluntary, hurt him. He hoped. Yet that paranoid side saw a future of him giving up applying to college to help Mabel with her applications, getting a low-wage and dull job so she could go to a good art school, buying art from her to help her out when business was bad, writing fiction on conspiracies instead of researching them because he had no degree…

_Stupid brain._

"TICK TOCK, KID," Bill said, jolting him back to the moment. Dipper's face hardened. Just this once.

"It's a deal."

He wrapped his hand around Bill's. it wasn't much larger than the demon's. Dipper couldn't feel the fire, except for a slight prickling of his skin and his hairs standing on end.

They shook.

"So, uh, which puppet did you pick, anyways?" Dipper asked awkwardly. Bill hadn't released his hand, though Dipper's fingers had uncurled.

"OH…" Bill appeared to be thinking. "EENIE, MEANIE, MINEY…" And his eye turned red. " _YOU_."

Pain. It hurt. Being removed from your own body wasn't much like being ripped apart; it was more like being compacted, squeezed out your own pores or, Dipper thought, crunched in that trap room in the bunker.

Either way, he screamed. And then it was over and he felt nothing. He was hyperventilating, panic mode fully activated because he was see-through and floating and it felt _wrong_. He tried to grab at his shirt and his hand went right through. Then he heard a low chuckle and his gaze locked on his own body, which was clumsily pushing itself to its feet. Eyes opened.

They weren't his own green-gold eyes, though, no. They were flat yellow and catlike, slit pupils roving over the room. Bill in Dipper's body grinned.

"SORRY KID BUT YOU'RE _MY_ PUPPET NOW!" He snatched up the laptop from the window seat.

"What do you want with that?" the real Dipper cried, floating over to Bill with some difficulty.

"YOU'VE BEEN COMING CLOSE TO FINDING OUT SOME ANSWERS. I HAVE BIG PLANS, KID. BIG PLANS. YOU AREN'T GONNA STOP ME!" And with a strength the real Dipper did not possess, he slammed the laptop to the floor and stomped on it. Dipper shrieked as the machine cracked and sparked and the glass screen splintered. Bill simply laughed at his anguish and stepped over the pile of broken tech. He stumbled drunkenly, as if he was unused to walking… Which he probably was.

"EHEHE," Bill giggling unnervingly. "HAS IT BEEN A WHILE SINCE I INHABITED A BODY. AND TWO EYES, HECK THIS THING'S DELUXE!" Now he was poking at Dipper's face, while Dipper swiped at him to try and get him to cut it out. Bill paid him no mind as he stretched the skin and blinked, one eye at a time. Dipper gasped when Bill slapped his face, once, twice, and exclaimed "PAIN IS HILARIOUS!"

"Come on man what are you doing?!" Dipper said, breathing like he was on the verge of a panic attack even though he didn't technically need to breathe at all. "Why are you doing this?"

"LIKE I SAID, PINE TREE. I DON'T WANT YOU GETTING IN MY WAY! NOW," he mused, wobbling over to the top of the stairs and raising an eyebrow. "WHERE'S THAT KID YOU HANG AROUND WITH? THREE? I NEED TO HAVE A LITTLE… _CHAT_ WITH HIM." A grin spread over his face, and Dipper never knew his face could look so sinister.

The spirit boy didn't have blood, but he still felt the sensation of it draining from his face and pooling nervously in his stomach. "No, you leave Drei alone! He's never done anything to you!"

"HE HAS TOO MUCH INFORMATION, JUST LIKE THAT LAPTOP. GOTTA CUT MY LOSSES, KID." Bill used Dipper's right hand to draw a line across his neck, still snarling at the true inhabitant of the body. "SAY, HOW ABOUT I RACE YOU TO THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS?"

Dipper was still paralyzed in horror, and Bill's words didn't sink in until he leaned backwards and tumbled down the stairs, thumping all the way down. Dipper yelped and instinctively dove _through_ the floor. The sensation of slipping through solid wood was weird, and made him do a flip once he reached the living room. Steadying himself was hard, especially when he was holding back so much panic.

Bill was going to try and kill Dipper's best friend using Dipper's body. That could not happen.

"Bill, where are you…" Dipper muttered, knowing full well Bill wouldn't answer. Then he heard that sinister laughter coming from the kitchen. He floated silently in, just in time to see Bill pull out a can of Pitt Cola.

"HEY HUMAN SODA. I'M GONNA DRINK IT LIKE A PERSON!" And with that, Bill upended the entire soda onto Dipper's face. First his eyes, then his nose and mouth, making gargling noises of laughter even as he half-drowned.

"Bill! Cut it out!" Dipper cried, wincing. Slightly reddened cat eyes met his as Bill swallowed, swiping a forearm across his (Dipper's) face and displaying that stretched grin.

"OH BUT WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT?" he cackled. "LIKE I SAID, IT'S BEEN A WHILE. I'M JUST HAVING SOME _FUN_ UNTIL I GO FIND THREE!" He wobbled over to a drawer of utensils next. From behind, Dipper could see bloody streaks in his own hair. He supposed he must have quite the lump on the top of his head from falling down the stairs, and Bill had covered it with the hat. He didn't want to think about the other bruises that were probably there.

"WOW THESE ARMS ARE DURABLE. WOULDN'T EXPECT IT BECAUSE THEY'RE SO NOODLEY, PINE TREE." And now Bill was slamming his forearm in the cabinet.

"Bill!" Dipper shrieked. "Come on! What are you doing?"

"HAVING _FUN!_ " shrieked the demon. "PAIN IS THE BEST KIND OF FUN OUT THERE! BUT IF YOU INSIST I DON'T SLAM YOUR BONELESS LITTLE FLESH NOODLES IN THIS THING, FINE." He stopped and Dipper relaxed fractionally. Then Bill pulled out a fork and looked up with crazy, unfocused eyes. "HOW'S ABOUT I DO THIS INSTEAD?"

Dipper screamed again, thinking Bill was going to stab out one of his eyes. He could _feel_ his heart pounding, even though it wasn't. But then Bill brought down the fork on his forearm, once, twice, three times, and Dipper felt some sickening relief. Bill would've kept going when Mabel peeked in the room.

Dipper's blood froze again. But Bill's back was turned to her and she couldn't see what he was doing, just that what she thought was her brother turned his head to look at her. "Hey bro-bro Drei and I are heading outside if you wanna say goodbye to him, see you later tonight!" And with a smile, she was gone again. That didn't stop Bill from calling after her.

"OKAY SIS, BE THERE IN A MINUTE!"

And then he leered at Dipper again. "CAN'T HAVE THEM FINDING OUT IT'S ME JUST YET, HMM?" Somehow he knew that Dipper kept some bandaids in his vest pockets and hastily slapped some onto the fork wounds, scratching off the dried blood and not bothering to clean it from under his fingernails before dashing out the door. He slammed into the doorframe on the way out.

Dipper bit his lip and followed, trembling slightly. If the situation wasn't so dire, he would be mildly irritated about how his normal human problems like breathing, feeling sweaty, heart racing, and shaking all followed him into the mindscape. But the situation _was_ dire, so he had no time to reflect on that.

He felt sick as he emerged from the building and saw Wendy, Soos, Drei, and Mabel loading the last boxes into the car. Dipper felt even sicker at the way Drei face lit up, managing to look apologetic at the same time. "Dip! Hi! Um… You figure out password yets?"

"OH HEY. NAH, BUT DON'T WORRY. YOU'VE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS." Bill's eyes flashed dangerously, but the effect was lost when he tripped over his own feet and went sprawling, giggling madly when he cracked his chin on the dirt. Mabel raised an eyebrow.

"Bro, you've gone cray-cray due to lack of sleep. You're talking real loud and not making much sense and falling over!" She helped what she didn't know to be Bill up and brushed the grass clippings off his vest. "You get your butt in the house mister and go get some sleep! The laptop will be waiting when you wake up!"

"OH YEAH, THAT. YOU COULD SAY I ALREADY CRACKED THE LAPTOP, SIS." He chuckled again. Mabel sighed.

"Yup, to bed with you." She wondered to herself why her brother wasn't more excited about this, why she hadn't heard his fanboy scream… And she chalked it up to anxiety and stress and the fact that you went a little crazy if you didn't sleep for days.

"AW SIS YOU'RE NO FUN," Bill complained. "BUT SURE. I CAN BIDE MY TIME. AND HEY?" He looked over to Drei and grinned a predator's smile. "GOOD LUCK. I'M SURE YOU'LL JUST _KILL_ IT."

And then Mabel shooed him back inside with a call of "SLEEP, Dipper! No fiddling with the laptop!" before she hopped in the car.

"Wait, Mabel!" Dipper's cracked voice finally piped up from where he had frozen in fear at the sight of Bill interacting with his family. But now he floated over to the car. Soos was driving Mabel and Candy and Grenda, and was coming back for everyone else after unloading the props. "Mabel that isn't me!"

But as he tried to clutch the car door through the open window, his hands slipped right through and he gulped. Then the car turned, pulling away and driving right through his ghostly form and he, expecting pain, curled up, shuddering, but there was none. He looked after the car, tears in his mind.

"WELCOME TO THE MINDSCAPE, KID." Dipper whirled around and saw his body standing in the shadows of the doorway, yellow eyes giving off a lambent glow. "ONLY I CAN SEE AND HEAR YOU. WITHOUT A VESSEL TO POSSESS, YOU'RE BASICALLY A GHOST."

"I'll stop you, Bill!" Dipper snarled, glaring through teary eyes.

"AHAHA IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SEE YOU TRY. CUTE, EVEN. BUT PINE TREE…" Bill's hand shot out and grabbed Dipper by the shirt, fingers fizzling as he touched the spirit boy. He yanked him close, staring unblinking into those fearful green-gold eyes with his pus-colored ones. "HOW CAN YOU STOP ME IF YOU DON'T EXIST?"

* * *

"Hey Drei!" Mabel called cheerfully to where he was helping erect the set for the play.

"Yes?" the construct called. He was setting up a cardboard tree with apples on it, and it was taller than him.

"You ready for this?"

"Of courses!" Drei replied with a huge grin. He got to be in Mabel's play! He was excited! He'd be playing the puppet version of himself, as well as Dipper. He couldn't believe it! And Zwei was there to see him. He wished Eins could be there too, but then he remembered the tunnels leading into the town and wondered if his oldest brother would be there in disguise.

"Good! You remember your lyrics, more or less?" Mabel knew that Drei's speech was not only broken, but inconsistent. He could recite the same lines five times and say them differently each time. Mabel had attempted to record the lines as tattoos for the teen, because somehow Drei could repeat all his entries perfectly, with no flaws in the grammar. But recording, for whatever reason, only worked sometimes. And it was hard and took many tries. For some reason, Drei had become attuned to Dipper and not really his twin.

Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't best friends with Mabel as well! He was extremely excited to be in this play. Even without recording the lines, he was gifted with a naturally excellent memory.

"Yups!" he chirped. "I get right this times, no make too many mistakeses!" He wished they could have asked Dipper to record the lyrics, but… Mabel felt too guilty asking anything more from her grumpy brother, and Drei was afraid he'd make Dipper angry again. So he just settled with memorizing and called it a day. "You think Dip will comes to see show?"

"Of course he will, he promised! Plus, he wouldn't miss it, I know him. I know he's pretty stressed, but… He's still Dipper. He's not mad at you or anything."

"I sure hopes not," Drei said, using the arm that wasn't still healing from the zombie bite to hold up the tree while he duct taped it to the floor. "Thankses, Mabel."

* * *

Dipper had gone into a panic after that. Bill had strode into the forest with his body, and Dipper hadn't followed.

He'd gone to his room to curl up over his bed, crying. His tears vanished before they made contact with anything solid. He knew he should be planning, he knew it, but for the moment he was simply too scared to do anything. Once started, the largest of panic attacks weren't easily quelled. There was trembling and a struggle to breath or swallow, gasping, crying, and an inability to think straight.

He wanted to plan and to fix things but he _couldn't._

He could die. His best friend could die. His twin could die. Or he could live after watching an eldritch horror kill them with his own hands. What twelve-year-old should have to deal with that? Any kid would panic, one with anxiety even more so.

But after maybe an hour, he knew he had to get up and try and fix things. The panic was still roiling in his ethereal gut like a black hole, but he was the smart guy. He could figure this out.

Dipper went downstairs. He was just in time to see his body stumble out of the forest, walking even more clumsily that before, twigs stuck in his hair and vest and brown splotches on his shorts, which the demon brushed off. Dirt, not blood, thank god. Dipper saw that the fingers Bill had used to grip his spirit-form were burned. Dipper's body was not meant to handle touching the energy of a soul.

Wendy and Soos had just pulled into the driveway, and Grunkle Stan and Zwei had stood up on the porch and gone to meet them, Zwei still gripping Stan's arm a bit since he was occasionally unsteady. When Stan saw 'Dipper's' appearance, he scolded him. Or at least Dipper thought he did, he couldn't hear what they were saying from his hiding place. Bill just laughed, and Stan brushed the twigs off him. Then they all got in the car, Bill struggling with the seatbelt for a good thirty seconds, and took off.

Dipper followed. Or at least, he tried to. He wasn't sure where they were going. But a young boy known for being rather physically weak, no matter how ghostly, was no match for a car driven over the speed limit. By the time Dipper found where he needed to be, it was getting dark, and he's almost panicked another three times.

But finally, at long last, Dipper found Grunkle Stan's car parked near the local theater, and, floating across the street and looking up, he saw GLOVE STORY: A SOCK OPERA was showing that night. Even as a ghost on a mission, Dipper was still able to take the time to wonder how the heck his twelve-year-old sister had rented out an entire theater for this thing. Once he got his body back, he was going to check his wallet. But for now…

"I have to find Bill before he does any other crazy things with my body."

Bill wasn't hard to find. He was reclining in the front row between Wendy and Soos, with Stan and Zwei nearby. His arm was around Wendy's shoulders, and Dipper felt another shudder. As if Bill wasn't set on ruining everything else, he would possibly ruin his friendship with Wendy. (And Dipper was still clinging to a hope that he could get Wendy to love him.)

"HEY QUESTION MARK, WANNA HEAR THE EXACT TIME AND DATE OF YOUR DEATH?" Dipper heard Bill ask as he got closer.

"Okay!" said Soos enthusiastically, and Dipper knew that he didn't want to hear it. Thankfully, Grenda's deep voice bellowed from the speakers just then and Bill wasn't able to answer. The show would start soon. Dipper was wondering where Mabel and Drei were when his twin walked out from behind the curtain.

"You're all here!" she exclaimed when she reached her family and friends sitting in the front row.

"Of course we are, sweetie! I'd never miss… Whatever this is." Grunkle Stan was still confused, but he was right in saying he'd never skip out on something his pumpkin was proud of.

"And my brother is in it too," Zwei said with his rather melodious voice. "Drei would be so disappointed if I didn't come, injured or not. Even if I don't really understand what it is this show is either."

"Oh he is excited that you're here! And just wait, boys, you'll be blown away by sheer awesomeness really soon! Now if only I could find someone to play the reverend for the marriage scene… Drei is the ring bearer, all the reverend needs to do is stand there…" She eyed Zwei hopefully. The man tugged at the collar he still wore and grinned lightly.

"I'm still injured, Mabel. Flattered, but no can do."

"HEY SIS, HOW'S ABOUT I PLAY THE REVEREND? SOMEONE NEEDS TO SAY THE CUES FOR THE RING BEARER, ANYWAYS." Bill was grinning widely at Mabel, blinking his eyes one at a time.

She seemed taken aback at first, but agreed. "Sure! I think the costume will fit you, anyways! It's off to stage left, okay?" Mabel grinned. "Thanks bro-bro!" And she went back behind the curtains, followed by Bill. The demon was walking with his hands held a little like a velociraptor, and he set off to the left side of the stage. Everyone in the front row could hear Mabel exclaim, "No Dipper I said _stage_ left, which means the left side for the people facing the audience! Don't you know your theater terms?"

There was a reversal in the footsteps and then Dipper drifted through the curtain to see Mabel handing Bill the costume. "Go put this on in the other room," she instructed, shooing Bill in the right direction. Dipper waited a few moments, then followed his body into the small changing room. He found Bill flat on his back, struggling to put on the black pants.

"CURSE THE USELESSNESS OF THIS FABRIC CAGE," he hissed. "YOU HUMANS SURE ARE SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT ALL THAT LUMPY FLESH, HUH?"

Dipper had had enough of that. He needed to find Drei and warn him somehow. But the show was about to begin. No one could see him, so floating across the stage would be acceptable… Right?

He didn't have time to debate with himself. Hovering behind the set like some prop waiting to be hoisted from the rafters, he looked around hysterically. "Drei!" he called. "Drei where are you?" He moved forwards, sticking his translucent head through the cardboard set; Dipper was getting used to being ghostly.

Drei was there, curled up and clutching two puppets. One was a google-eyed Dipper made with yarn hair, wearing a teeny vest and baseball hat, and the other was a Drei made with a felt coat, fake furry hair, and glow-in-the-dark stickers for eyes. He was obviously waiting for his cue, smiling to himself, breathing a little fast in anticipation.

"Drei!" Mabel poked at him, tugged at his jacket, but all to no avail. His fingers just went right through. "Drei, you're in danger! Bill, Bill stole my body and is trying to kill me! Drei you gotta hear me!" The boy was desperate, waving his arms, his voice climbing in both pitch and volume until it was a screech.

He felt a hand on his ankle, which was still on the other side of the cardboard cutout. Whoever it was yanked him back and he yelped, terrified. It was Bill, of COURSE it was, Bill was the only one who could touch him.

"HE CAN'T HEAR YOU, SO SAVE YOUR BREATH. OH YEAH, YOU DON'T _HAVE_ TO BREATHE ANY MORE!" Bill chuckled. He had finally gotten dressed in the reverend's outfit, and obviously Bill felt more at home in the formalwear. He'd also scratched the dried blood from the earlier tumble out of his hair. "NOW I GOTTA FIND OUT WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO AND WHEN MY OPPORTUNITY TO GET TO THREE WILL BE…" Bill muttered. Dipper gulped, insides turning to ice.

"AHA." Bill had looked up and spotted Grenda. "HEY, GRENDO, WHEN DO I FIND THE RING BEARER AND DO MY SHTICK WITH HIM?"

"The wedding isn't to the second half, so hold your horses!" Grenda pronounced, shooing him off because the show was starting in thirty seconds.

"OH, I'LL HOLD MY HORSES. I'LL HOLD THEM. YOU MONSTER," Bill mumbled as he backed into the wings. Dipper followed, then began to pace in midair. Mercifully, Bill ignored him, opting instead to laugh at the weird thing humans called entertainment. The lights had dimmed and the music had started.

The show had begun.

* * *

Intermission had just been called and Dipper's heart was a jackhammer. He had no plan. The goofy music was distracting, especially Drei's singing. He wanted to be cheering on his friend, to be sitting in the audience, sleepy but happy, watching something his sister had worked hard to produce. But he couldn't. He was stuck in limbo with a demon in his body.

Mabel was walking off the stage towards him now, pulling puppets off her hands and tossing them onto a pile… A pile of puppets… Vessels?

Suddenly Dipper's heart leaped into hope again and he let himself grin. Bill had gone off, dragged to prepare by Mabel, and Dipper swooped over to the socks.

Drei, meanwhile, was going to his own little changing room to grab a drink. He was having the time of his life! Everyone loved him, broken voice or not! It was going amazing. And then he bumped into Dipper in the space between rooms.

"Dip! You like show?" He smiled, then suddenly was nervous, almost. "I is sorry for abandonings you. I got too excite. You forgives me?"

"OH OF COURSE!" Bill drawled. "IT'S NOT LIKE I'M GONNA BITE YOUR HEAD OFF OR ANYTHING."

Drei giggled. "I supposes you is right. You is my friend after all."

"YEAH, AND FRIENDS STAB FRIENDS IN THE FRONT."

Drei's nose wrinkled. "Dip… What that have to do with anything?" He looked a little concerned, flighty, like a wild animal.

Bill laughed like a hyena. "NOTHING. JUST SAYING THERE'S A THING AS KNOWING TOO MUCH. YOUR CREATOR'S BEST FRIEND KNEW THAT." He tapped a tattoo on the back of Drei's hand, and the construct flinched and drew his appendage away.

"Dip, you is scaring me… What wrong? Mabel say you stressed and tired, but you is acting really… Bad." It took him a second to realize that Dipper didn't know that his Creator had a best friend. "Dip…" he began slowly. "How you know that?"

"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. BUT IF YOU GET TOO POWERFUL, YOU JUST MIGHT GO UP IN _FLAMES._ " Dipper's eyes flashed solid blue for a second, and Drei yelped and darted off. Bill was about to give chase when a door opened.

"Dipper! You're supposed to be going over your cues in your dressing room!" Mabel scolded, dragging the protesting impersonator into the room next to hers. "Now stay in there! I wanna hear you reciting what you have to do!" She closed the door on the grumbling demon and went back into her own room. "Just thirty-six more musical numbers. You can do this, Mabel."

She leaned down to get a drink, gulping down the slightly sour water from the old fountain. But then she caught sight of something that made her spew her latest mouthful. There was a Dipper puppet, and it was _floating_.

"Ahhh! Ahhhh it's come to life! Begone, demon!" She picked up the nearest object, a fork, and flung it at the puppet with a horrified expression. It stuck in puppet-Dipper's eye.

"Argh what is it with me and forks today?" A familiar voice was coming from that tiny cotton mouth. "Anyways, Mabel! I'm not the demon, Bill is! He stole my body!"

Mabel had frozen in place, one hand raised as if to protect her face. "What… _Dipper?_ Dipper what happened to you?" She sounded monumentally confused.

"Mabel, remember Bill that creepy demon? I made a deal with him to help me with the laptop and he stole my body! He's gonna kill Drei, Mabel, he told me so! Drei has too much valuable information or something! We have to help him! Bring him here, maybe he has some info on getting me back into my body and stopping Bill."

Once again, she found herself unable to reply right away. "But it's the middle of my play," she finally stammered out.

"MABEL! This is life or death, okay?!" Dipper's fist clenched, screwing up the puppet's face impossibly and causing Mabel to laugh.

"It's hard to believe that when your little puppet face is so ridiculous. It's… It's hard to take you seriously, bro-bro."

Dipper made a hysteric, impatient noise that actually got a laugh from his sister. "Okay okay I'll go find Drei. Bill is just a big yellow jerk, what can he do?" And with that she slipped out of the room.

"More than you think," Dipper murmured after her, unheard even with the puppet on his hand.

In the next seconds, _he_ was the one surprised, because Drei burst into the room. "Mabel!" he called, voice cracking more with panic. "Mabel where is you? Something wrong with Dip!"

"Drei!" Dipper cried via sock. "Oh gosh am I happy to see you!" Drei caught sight of the puppet with his yellow eyes and shrieked a bloodcurdling shriek. He scrambled backwards and pressed himself flush to the door. His wings made an appearance, fluttering in agitation.

"Drei it's me! It's Dipper! Bill Cipher stole my body!" the ghost in the sock pleaded. "You gotta believe me!"

"Dip!" Drei choked out. "Dip, your body scaring me. Is not you inside? Explains lots… How we fix?"

"I was hoping you'd know!" Dipper replied hurriedly. "Drei, Bill is after you, you have to get away-"

"AND WHY WOULD HE WANT TO DO THAT?" Bill in Dipper's body had shoved his way into the room, eyes practically spitting gold sparks, grinning in a way that showed off all his gums. "THERE YOU ARE, THREE. FINALLY RECOGNIZED ME, HM? YOU AND I HAVE A LITTLE MEETING TO GET TO."

Drei shrieked again, but with that same demonic strength Bill had shown when he smashed the laptop, Bill grabbed him and covered his mouth. Dipper darted over and took his own flesh arm in the sock puppet's 'mouth' and tried to pry it off Drei, but to no avail.

"HAHA PINE TREE LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE TRYING TO BECOME A CANNIBAL. I'D RECOMMEND IT, FLESH IS DELICIOUS." He shook off the ridiculous little puppet and Dipper let it fall. Bill was dragging Drei along behind the scenes, and the teen was struggling but it wasn't working. "JUST GOTTA FIND SOME ROPE AND A PLACE TO TIE YOU UP, AND SHOOTING STAR'S DRAMATIC FINISH THAT LIVES UP TO HER NAME SHOULD DO YOU IN."

"No! Drei!" Dipper screeched. "Bill, don't!"

"I DO WHAT I WANT, KID," Bill said dryly as he came to some rope, spare from the hanging decorations. Swiftly and with a grace Dipper certainly didn't possess, Bill tied some crazy impossible knot that was definitely not able to be untied by any of the humans present. And Dipper couldn't even touch it. Then some space duct tape was slapped over Drei's mouth. "NOW WHERE ARE THOSE FIREWORKS… AHA!"

Bill had spotted them in the uncovered wooden wedding cake prop. Of course Mabel's play included an exploding cake. Bill yanked Drei over to it and dumped the teen inside among various rockets and roman candles. "YOU'RE GONNA GET QUITE A CURTAIN CALL, THREE!" he crowed. His cat-eyes roved up to Dipper. "AND YOU GET TO WATCH, UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING!"

"I can get another sock! I can warn Mabel!" Dipper vowed, trying to sound braver than he felt. His blue-tinted eyes kept darting over to Drei, his helpless and trembling best friend.

Bill barked a laugh. "SHOOTING STAR'S SECOND ACT IS ABOUT TO START! YOU REALLY THINK SHE'S GONNA MISS THAT? ONCE SHE SEES ME, SHE'LL KNOW THAT THREE IS STILL ALIVE AND TAKE A BREAK JUST TO FINISH UP HER DUMB PLAY." Bill had been climbing up to a scaffolding high above the stage, and now he grabbed a rope and began to hoist the cake into position, taking Drei and the rockets with it.

"You're wrong!" Dipper cried, on the verge of panicking again. Tears were starting to blur his vision.

"AM I? SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU TOLD HER BEFORE, WHY SHOULD SHE CARE NOW? SHE ALWAYS THINGS YOU CAN _WAIT_ , EVERYTHING YOU DO CAN BE PUT ON THE BACKBURNER."

"She wouldn't do that with Drei's life on the line!" Dipper said, hoping he seemed confident. Really, though, he was getting scared.

"HAHA LIFE? THREE'S JUST AN OBJECT, KID." He spared Drei a malicious glare. The poor teen wondered what the real Dipper was saying, even through his fear. "AND ANYWAYS, WHO WOULD SACRIFICE EVERYTHING THEY'VE WORKED FOR JUST FOR THEIR DUMB SIBLING?"

"Dipper would," came a hard reply, right from behind Bill. The demon in the boy whirled, narrowing his eyes. At the same time, the curtain opened. The audience couldn't see the platform they stood on, and anyways, Candy and Grenda's voices were floating up from the stage as the show went on. "Now let Drei go!"

"SHHH YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO RUIN THE SHOW," Bill said with a savage grin.

"Bill-Dipper," Mabel growled, then narrowed her eyes. "Bipper."

At that proclamation, Dipper facepalmed. He couldn't help it.

Bill cackled again and let the rope holding Drei slip through his burned fingers a little. "I WOULD CUT IT OUT, SHOOTING STAR, BECAUSE HE'S SLIPPING."

Mabel gasped and took a step forwards, then froze. Dipper didn't move either, except for his midair bobbing. Then…

"OOPS!" Knowing that his plan with the fireworks had been foiled and that Mabel would never press the button, Bill decided on a new tactic. He let go.

Candy and Grenda heard the squeak of the pulley and looked up just in time to scatter before the cake hit. Bill had already shoved Mabel into the railing and dashed back down to the stage as the wooden prop collided with the ground, and Mabel wasn't far behind. Dipper had dove straight down, wishing with every ounce of his spirit that he could catch Drei, save his life somehow…

But the thing smashed into the ground, crumpling cardboard and landing in a heap among the other props. No one in the audience could see its contents. Bill made it first, Dipper hovering nearby and crying, unable to move the scraps to get to his best friend. Bill simply shoved stuff aside, eyes glinting as he admired his handiwork.

Drei was unconscious. Knocked out, but still breathing. Dipper dropped a few inches closer to the stage in sheer relief. Mabel caught sight of that thin chest rising and falling too, and covered her mouth with both hands. But then those hands slowly fell, and a look of rage crossed her face.

Then she tackled Bill to the floor, surprising everyone.

"Get OUT of my BROTHER!" she shrieked, slapping his face. But Bill was stronger, and soon he was pinning her… Until she smacked him across the face with a board from the cake.

"Mabel be careful, that's _my_ body!" Dipper called from his position near Drei, even if she couldn't hear him. She certainly didn't seem to remember it was the face of her brother she was beating up, at least not at first. But then it seemed to slowly dawn on her, as she saw Bill sneering, nose bloodied and eye blackened.

"AHAHA SHOOTING STAR YOU'RE JUST GONNA KILL YOUR POOR BROTHER'S BODY?" he taunted from where she had a knee pinning his chest.

"N-no…" she stammered, voice getting stronger as she spoke. "In fact, I have a better idea." She grinned deviously, though there was still worry in her eyes, and lowered her hands… And began to tickle Bill under the armpits. Dipper was ticklish there, why not Bill?

"WHAT? WHAT ARE THESE?! BODY SPASMS, AGH!" Bill was laughing, unable to stop, even though he glared at Mabel with hatred. She wiggled her fingers in a sassy wave, then stood up and dashed off. Dipper was now struck dumb with confusion. What was Mabel up to?

Bill leapt to his feet and chased her around, obviously having gotten more skilled at moving throughout the day. He was practically growling, which turned into panting, which turned into gasping as he sweated more and ran less.

"WHAT… WHY IS… MOVING SO… HARD?"

"Fun fact about the human body; you haven't slept in over 48 hours and I'm running on plenty of sleep and Mabel Juice!" the girl declared, stopping and standing triumphantly in front of Bill. If her hunch was correct…

"EVERYTHING IS… SHUTTING… DOWN… STUPID… FLESH STICKS! WORK, YOU STUPID… STUPID… MEATSACK…" And Bill keeled right over, faceplanting onto the hard wood before Mabel could catch him.

Dipper's metaphorical heart stopped when he saw the yellow triangle fly out of the prone body, and before Bill could regain his equilibrium, the spirit boy darted over and reclaimed what was rightfully his.

Maybe not the best idea. Everything hurt. Absolutely everything. His chest felt crushed and his nose was full of blood and his arms stung and his stomach ached and the back of his head throbbed and his black eye pulsed. He could barely bring himself to crack open his eyes, but he forced himself to sit up.

"Is… Is it over?" He hated how weak his voice sounded just then. Hated it. But then he was enveloped in a pair of soft, sweater-clad arms and was being helped up.

"Bro-bro, I was so worried," Mabel said softly.

"D-Drei," Dipper choked out. "We gotta help Drei."

Both immediately looked over to the pile of broken wood and cardboard… Only to find Drei sitting up and dusting himself off. But… Drei had been out cold. Dipper didn't understand. At least, he didn't understand until he saw Drei's eyes.

Flat and yellow, yes, but now… Drei had _pupils. Cat_ pupils.

"IS OKAY, I IS FINE," came a mocking voice from Drei's mouth. It was his voice, and… _Not_ , at the same time. Oh god, had he sounded like that? To him, the voice coming from his mouth had been all Bill's.

"Bill," Mabel choked. "Bill get out of him!"

"MAKE ME," Bill said with a sneer. It was much more effective with Drei's fangs. "NOW, TO FINALLY FINISH WHAT I STARTED…" Bill forced the injured body to its feet, one leg dragging as blood streamed from the calf. Then he bent down and rummaged around in the debris of the cake and pulled something out. "AHA!"

It was an unstruck match.

There was a strangled scream from the audience and Dipper tore his eyes away for just a second to see Zwei surging to his feet. Half the theater was already standing, and some were backing out the doors.

"AHA, TWO, I WOULDN'T DO THAT IF I WERE YOU." Bill flicked the match with Drei's sharp thumbnail, and it burst to life.

"Stop that!" Mabel cried. "Uh… Dreill!" she called. She remembered that it had distracted and annoyed Bill before. But this time, it didn't seem to work.

Bill rolled back his right sleeve, exposing the bandages from the bite soaked in black. "AND WHY WOULD I STOP, SHOOTING STAR?" A drop of blood fell into the flame, making it flare brightly. "I'M GETTING RID OF THIS NUISANCE ONCE AND FOR ALL." Bill looked like he was deciding where to start the inferno that would take Drei's life. He held the match near his injured arm, the thick ink dripping down his calf, under his chin, one of his eyes…

Dipper made a split second decision. A little more pain was worth saving his best friend's life. Forcing his broken body to move quickly, he darted to Bill, reached out, and pinched the match with a yelp. The flame went out, and Bill turned doubly luminous eyes to Dipper.

"YOU… YOU!" Bill caused Drei's eyes to go wider than ever before. His mouth stretched into a snarl like it had when Drei had attacked Gideon. His wings unfolded, stretched our threateningly as he advanced on Dipper, who fell back, energy spent.

"I'm sorry about this," came a voice, and there was a harsh _crack_ as a board was broken across Bill's… Drei's head. The possessed magical construct dropped like a stone.

Drei had been forced out of his mind when he was still asleep. Since Bill didn't consider him a living being, he could possess him via force… He had never, ever been more scared. Not even close. Bill had tried to force him to kill himself, sort of.

He had almost killed Dipper using Drei's body, just as he'd nearly forced Dipper to kill Drei.

And then he was sucked back into his unconscious body, having seen Bill finally flee into his own dimension. He'd taken enough of a beating that he'd give up for now.

The teen woke a few minutes later, brain still trying to catch up, cradled in the lap of his older brother. The theater was empty, save for Wendy, Soos, and the Pines. "Zwei?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Yeah Drei, I've got you," the second construct said softly. "You took q-quite the beating." His choke-up was evidence of how scared he had been, seeing a demon possess his brother and try to murder him. Zwei knew who it was who had caused all this.

Mabel was still tending to her own brother, handing him tissues from her sweater pocket that he was applying to his nosebleed, and apologizing profusely. "I should've paid more attention to you. I should have moved faster, I should have helped you like you helped me. You dropped everything just to help me with this, and Gabe left without telling me anything. I should have put you first."

"Shh it's okay Mabel," Dipper soothed, voice slightly nasally from the tissues. "I forgive you." And then she was gently hugging him, and he was asking to see Drei, and she was helping him struggle to his feet.

Drei was still talking quietly with Zwei while Stan looked on, but when Dipper came closer, Drei caught sight of him and flinched terribly. His breathing sped up and his search Dipper's soft hazel eyes for any hints of yellow before relaxing into guilt.

"Dip, I is…"

"No Drei, it's okay. I was the one who made the deal with that stupid, stupid demon." Dipper's postured was hunched, defeated, both due to pain and fact that is best friend was now _scared_ of him

"Demon?" Stan echoed. "Okay kids, someone is gonna tell me what's going on here…" So Mabel took up that role while Drei and Dipper's eyes didn't meet.

They both knew that there would be scars that would take more than a few days to heal.

* * *

Dipper and Drei didn't go to a hospital. Too many of Dipper's wounds were suspicious and looked self-inflicted (which, in a way, they sort of were) and Drei wasn't human. So back to the Shack they went to treat the wounds of the two kids, wrapping sprains (Dipper's wrist and Drei's ankle) and bandaging cuts and disinfecting gashes. Dipper's head was wound with bandages again, just like after the giant robot fight, and by some miracle he didn't have a concussion. Drei's zombie bite was fixed up again, and his singed and bruised skin was given ointment.

Both looked like mummies by the time that the bandaging was over. It was also six AM, and Mabel had fallen asleep a mere half hour earlier. She'd wanted to stay up to help, but found she couldn't keep her eyes open, and after pasting a bandaid into Dipper's hair when she nodded off for a second, both her brother and grunkle insisted on sleep for her. Dipper had filled in the last missing details in the story Mabel had told about what had happened, with Zwei providing information on Bill…

Stan had fabricated a story about how the fight was part of staging gone wrong and tensions running high. All of the weird stuff was special effects. He told anyone who asked, _and,_ as a con man, was able to come up with a truly convincing lie.

Now Drei and Dipper needed to sleep, but… Both found sleep unobtainable. And each knew why.

"H-hey? Drei?" Dipper's voice was small, so as not to wake Mabel. "I… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. You'll always look at me and see a monster now. He tried to kill you. And he used _me_ to do it. That was… was… so unfair to both of us and horrible to do and I'm sorry I let him trick me!"

Tears were dripping from Dipper's eyes by the time he was done, and his arms were wrapped around his chest. Drei lifted his head off his pillow from his spot between both of the beds and looked at Dipper.

"Dip, no… It okay. Sorry I is a little nervous. It not you, I promises. It go away in time. Bill no hurt you ever again. Plus…" He sat up carefully. "I remember Creator tricked by Bill too. Remember warnings? I show you? That why he trust no one. Bill a trickster. We just his victims. Okay, Dip? Don't blame yourself."

He carefully climbed on the end of Dipper's bed so he could look at him better, and Dipper finally gave a watery grin and hugged his best friend. Drei hugged him back tightly.

"Okay, Drei. I'll remember that. And he won't hurt you again either, promise." When he finally let go, Drei reached down and hefted he sleeping bag onto the bed with minimal squeaking in pain. Then he spread it out on the side nearest the wall and wriggled inside.

Dipper smiled. "Let's get some sleep."

He got under his own covers then, and, in time, the two fell asleep back-to-back just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From FF.net posting: "I'm pretty proud of this one! Stupid long again, ahahaha… 10,500 words, about, and that's just the story without the author's notes! It's my favorite episode, I had to do it justice. It was a little more Dipper-centric than the others, but that really was the point of this episode in canon too! The bits about anxiety and panic attacks were taken from personal experience, sad to say. Just letting you know before anyone calls them 'inaccurate' or something.
> 
> This chapter is kinda dedicated to my buddy Gedhyr. She was sick, and I worked really hard to finish this as a little present for her. :)
> 
> Anyways, hold onto your butts! Chapter 10 is next and it's pretty serious. Chapters 10 and 11 are already written at the time of me writing this, so you won't have long to wait! 10 will be posted on Sunday, and 11 on Monday night! And after that will be Drei's Creation-Day special! So that's all I have for news again, see you next time! I hope you won't kill me ahaha…"


	10. The Burning Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this chapter has serious warnings for themes of death and burning and a bit of graphic violence. Heads up!
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Jun. 4, 2017
> 
> From FF.net posting: "So… This is most likely the most tragic of all the one-shots. Who am I kidding… It IS the most tragic. Because… Well, we all know what happens to the Journals in Weirdmaggeddon. Tragic ending, yes… But it's not the end of the one-shots, I promise! You still gets to see Eins, Zwei, and Drei all happy before this happens.
> 
> You have been warned. Takes place right after Mabelland is destroyed."
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Things We Lost In the Fire by Bastille](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYRqIAuY9IQ)

"Whew, that was cray-cray!" Mabel stood, brushing off her sweater as Waddles shrank down to his normal size. "I'm sorry I was such a pain in there, guess I sorta lost track of what was important." She threw an arm around her brother's shoulders.

"Hate to break up the reunion, my dudes, but we gotta find shelter," Wendy said, gathering up the supplies they'd dropped. "Let's get moving before Bill finds us here."

"Yeah I don't wanna be turned into an action figure," Soos said nervously.

But right as they set off…

"Hey Dipper? Where's Drei? Is he back helping Great Uncle Ford find a way to take out Bill?" It was as if she just realized that Drei wasn't with them. Actually, she probably _had_ just realized it, what with the distractions in Mabelland.

Dipper looked at her, eyes wide, and tears began to pour down his face again. Wendy looked at Mabel and made 'quit it don't ask about that!' gestures, but Mabel didn't get it.

"Dipper…?"

"M-Mabel… Drei is dead."

"Wait…. W-what?" Her eyes widened like her brother's had. "Dead? No, you gotta be wrong…"

"Bill killed him and his brothers right in front of my eyes." Dipper was trembling again, and he pulled his pine tree hat down to cover his leaking eyes.

"Oh Dipper…" Mabel then had tears of her own. "What happened?"

And so, trekking across that weird wasteland looking for a place to hide, Dipper told the story.

* * *

"Dipper go! Get out of here, take the brothers with you!" Ford pointed at the hatch with the stairs that would lead down from the bell tower, and the four had just enough time to run down the stairs before Bill reached Ford.

"Come on guys!" Dipper led the three behind the half-melted pedestal where the town founder used to stand. From there, they watched in horror as Bill turned Ford into gold.

"CRE-" A hand muffled Drei's cry.

"Shh Drei," Zwei said softly, though his face was full of anger. "They can't take us by surprise, okay?" Drei nodded, though when Zwei removed his hand his face was snarling.

"Arghhh… THAT'S ENOUGH!" Dipper had leapt onto the pedestal, pointing at Bill with a surprising amount of rage in his small body. "You leave my great uncle alone!"

The brothers looked at each other. This was not how it was meant to go, but they would stand behind Dipper. No matter what. So stand behind him they did, Eins with a hand on the boy's shoulder, Zwei grinning out at the henchmaniacs and giving them a little ripple of his fingers, and Drei looking like he was about to attack someone.

"Oh well isn't this CUTE." Bill turned to face them. "My puppets are back for an encore! And you think that you can beat me, Pine Tree, just because you have these three on your side?"

Eins stared into Bill's eye, unblinking. "We do have methods of defeating you, Cipher."

"I, uh…. Guys help," Dipper squeaked, looking up at each of them in turn, eyes full of terror because, at the end of the day, he was still a kid.

He felt Drei's hand curl into his, heard his best friend whisper, "but to beats him… Wes need nine more peoples…"

"Oh yeah, show us your BRILLIANT PLAN. YOU DON'T HAVE ONE DO YOU? Everyone's waiting on you! Your friend here said you have a way! What are you WAITING FOR? **DO IT!** "

"AHHH BILL!" Dipper ran forwards, away from the protection of Eins, Zwei, and Drei, and attempted to punch Bill right in the all-seeing eye. There was a flicker of blue flame, and the twelve year old was sent flying, tumbling until he hit a tree.

"DIP!" came a cry that cracked in the middle. Dipper opened his eyes to see Drei running over to him…

Before all three brothers were lifting into the air by Bill's telekinetic red aura. Zwei struggled and screamed. "Let us go you cosmic *sshole!"

"Zwei stand down!" Eins called, not resisting. "Don't make him angry!" Drei was near Eins, whimpering.

"Yeah, DON'T MAKE HIM MAD!" Bill said with a chortle. "Makes no difference though, Two, you were gonna bite it either way!" His eye shifted to look at all of them. "HA IT'S NOT LIKE YOU WERE EVER ACTUALLY _ALIVE_ ANYWAYS! JUST _JOURNALS_ WHERE OLD FORDSY STORED HIS INFORMATION! NOBODY CARES ABOUT MAGICAL CONSTRUCTS, KIDS! NOT EVEN YOUR SO-CALLED PRECIOUS 'FAMILY!' THEY CAN'T SAVE YOU NOW!"

And…

And…

Bill's hand ignited with blue flames at the same time Zwei's body did. The world was reduced to screams as Drei, Eins, and Dipper _shrieked_ , but the worst… The worst was Zwei himself.

His flammable blood boiled and fed the flames, and parts of his flesh fell away like paper. He writhed, unable to escape Bill's hold or his fire. His melting eyes leaked from beneath their lids and his hair drifted away as sparks, along with sections of charred cloth. Slowly, his thrashing slowed as his screams began to choke off as the fire reached his insides. Then he was silent.

The flames burned away every bit of him, not even leaving any ashes.

"OH WHO TO PICK NEXT," Bill said, tapping his face and looking at the remaining two. The could only stare, Drei clinging to Eins with all four limbs and Eins with his arm around Drei.

They wouldn't be surprised to know they had tears on their faces.

"I will not let you hurt him," Eins said calmly, straightening an arm in front of his now only brother. He was scared, though. His face was impassive, serious, but on the inside he was terrified. As he knew Zwei had been, even when he was grinning out over the crowd of villains like an actor. They'd learned to hide their fears behind who they were. Now was Eins' greatest test.

_Get his brother out of this._

"THEN I GOTTA GET YOU OUT OF THE WAY FIRST!" crowed Bill, and wrenched the two apart. Drei grabbed for his brother, sobbing, but missed.

"Hey Drei, it's okay. You're gonna be fine. Just stay calm, he won't have any reason to hurt you then," Eins soothed, voice shaking, cracking once for the first time in thirty five years.

"DON'T TELL THE KID THAT AND DON'T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN'T KEEP. REMEMBER, ONE… REALITY IS TORTURE AND LOVE IS A LIE!"

And then Eins was aflame. He refused to cry out for a torturously long time until one scream of anger and desperation for it to STOP ripped from his throat as he spasmed in midair. His glasses shattered and got bits of glass in his eyes, causing him to screech again… And this time he couldn't stop, going just the same way Zwei did, cries petering out and turned into nothing, with no remnants to show he ever existed.

"EIIIINS!" screamed out Drei. He was far, far too terrified to think of fighting, of being scary. Nothing in his roughly one year and a summer of life had ever, _ever_ prepared him for this. He was shaking, much like he had been when he first came out of cryo, curled in on himself.

"AND NOW WE HAVE YOU, THREE."

Drei cast a look over at Dipper, who was just starting to shake off his paralysis. "D-Dip…"

"Hmmm… What do I do with YOU? Could imprison you, keep you as a prize! Ah, or a PET, you do act like an animal half the time…" Bill's eye turned up in a sadistic grin. Drei uncurled a little. If that happened… The others might be able to save him. He saw Dipper breath a barely visible sigh of relief.

"AH WHO AM I KIDDING KILLING YOU IS MORE FUN!"

And panic. "DIP! DIP PLEASE HELPS ME!" Drei shrieked, screaming and thrashing though the flames hadn't even been lit yet. "DIP… _DIPPER PLEASES!_ "

"DREI! DREI NOOO! BILL I'LL DO ANYTHING JUST DON'T HURT HIM! _DON'T HURT HIM!_ " Dipper was screaming too, waving his arms to catch the triangle's attention.

"BUT PINE TREE YOU HAVE NOTHING I WANT ANY MORE!"

A startling change came over Drei, suddenly. He curled his legs up again, halfway, stilling except for his shivers. His screams died down and there was only infinite, _endless_ sadness in his expression. Somehow with those words he'd simply become…

Resigned to his fate.

He gave Dipper one last little wave, his hand covered by his too-long sleeve, and then he was burning. Monocle melting and molten glass dripping onto his skin, indistinguishable from the flames. Wings appearing in his terror only to have the thin membranes seared right off. Burning, melting, screaming, crying…

Dying.

And Drei was gone.

But some small, small bit of mercy left the metal rim of his monocle. Maybe Bill just botched the incineration, or maybe it was on purpose. But Dipper snatched up the ring, still hot to the touch but no longer glowing. Before Bill could notice, he shoved it onto his left wrist like a bracelet (it had been an oversized monocle, and Dipper had small hands), a charm to never ever forgot his first and best friend.

"Not much of a threat now, ARE YOU?" Bill asked Dipper with a cackle. "THERE'S NO ROOM IN MY WORLD FOR HEROES, KID! AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN SAVE THEM!" Then he turned back to his band of freaks.

"Eh, some of you eat the kid, or something."

And Dipper had ran, ran until he lost them, blinded by his watering eyes and terrible grief but he couldn't break down, _he couldn't_ he had to save Mabel. Like he couldn't… Save… Drei.

And then he'd found Wendy at the mall. He remembered flinging himself at her in a hug, sobbing, partly from relief but mostly from seeing his best friend murdered right before his eyes. She had listened to his awful, awful story, told through his heart wrenching cries, curled up on her lap while she hugged him. For the first time, he didn't care if he was acting like a child in front of her.

 _Someone he cared about had died because of him._ Three someones.

"I… I didn't th-think anyone would… People were f-frozen or transformed, n-not… Killed," he had said with a sniff.

"Bill is just insane," Wendy had said. Even her heart hurt; she had met all three brothers, and had also become friends with Drei, who was always good for a laugh. "He… He takes what he wants and never thinks of the consequences."

They had fallen asleep like that, Dipper admitted as his story drew to a close. After the day they'd had, they'd both needed comfort.

"Yeah, dude," Wendy said quietly, affectionately squashing Dipper's hat onto his head. "Then we dodged monsters and came to find you, Mabel."

Mabel was silent, taking Dipper's left hand and looking at the metal ring, covered in ash and warped in places.

"Mabel, I never even got to tell him how much he mattered. It's hard for me to even tell _you_ I love you sometimes, how the heck was I supposed to say it to him without things being awkward?" Dipper's voice was tinged with regret. "But I _did_ he was _family_ he was like a _brother…_ They all were… And now they'll never know!"

His voice had risen to a howl again, and both Wendy and Soos had to look away. Things were too _painful._

"And… And…" Dipper continued in a quiet voice. "Drei never even got to be completed. He died _incomplete,_ Mabel. The _one thing he wanted_ and he couldn't even get that." And then Dipper just couldn't continue.

Mabel choked back her own cries and brushed the tears off her face and his. She would cry later, grieve and scream and sob for their lost friend. But for now, she had to be strong for her brother. For now…

"We _have_ to take Bill down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From FF.net posting: "Poor guys. :( Some small bits were inspired by fan art, like Drei's last little wave…"


	11. The Reunion Second

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Jun. 5, 2017
> 
> From FF.net posting: "Sooo… Y'know, just read this first. Decided I couldn't wait until later tonight."
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Forever Young by Alphaville](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHIIATt0BaM)

"Hey Grunkle Ford?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can we make some kind of markers or memorials for Eins, Zwei, and Drei?"

Mabel's voice was soft and sad. So, so sad, Stanford Pines observed. And he knew why, he felt it himself. His home, their home felt so much more empty without the three brothers around, talking and laughing and eating meals with them… And Ford had known them their whole lives. He'd heard Eins say his first garbled sentence, unable to even speak English until the man had recorded an entry with him. It had been the same with Zwei and Drei. They were…

They had been…

His children, in a way, a product of magic and science, yes, but… Family.

"Of course, Mabel," he answered quietly. Ford heard a muffled sob and turned to see Dipper's shoulders shaking, face hidden in a mystery novel. It was the first night after the last day of Weirdmaggeddon. The apocalypse had ended about nine hours earlier, but it was now midnight and no one could sleep.

Dipper was hit the hardest. His eyes were haunted, filled with a look Ford had only seen on himself, due to all his portal travels.

It was the look of someone who had seen their family die.

Which is exactly what had happened to the poor boy. He peered up from his book with those wide, tear-stained eyes, then choked out, "I want to help." His right hand unconsciously fingered the twisted metal ring on his wrist. Ford had recognized it immediately.

"We need to do it as soon as possible," Dipper continued, scrubbing at his eyes with a forearm. "Tonight. C'mon, Mabel, let's go make them." He pushed his chair out with a more irritating noise than the entire Pines family had heard all night. Ford flinched.

"Can I maybe make one for Eins?" came a voice from the doorway. Stanley. "I mean… We were friends… _Family_ for thirty years. We took care of each other. Please let me do this for him." Damn it he looked just as bad as Dipper.

"Of course, Grunkle Stan," Mabel said quietly. "Let's go get some wood."

And now Ford could only watch as his three family members left the room to make three wooden monuments. What could he do? He had left the brothers, had frozen and buried two of them and practically abandoned and given away the other. They said they forgave him, but… Did he really deserve it?

So he let the three with real ties to those kids make the monuments.

Four hours later, the four Pines found themselves trekking through the woods at dawn, carefully carrying a wooden structure. It consisted of three vertical planks of wood, slightly rounded at the top like fence posts, a horizontal plank that connected them all.

Stan had made Eins' plank. He'd found his own woodburning kit and let the kids carefully use it too. The first part of the monument read '1' and the dates of the years he had been alive. Near the base, there was a small inscription of Stan's zodiac symbol, a sign that this was him paying his last respects to the first brother.

Mabel had inscribed the next plank for Zwei. She remembered Zwei giving her advice on how to flirt, how funny he'd been. How he'd protected his little brother like Mabel had done for Dipper. His plank was very similar to Eins', except with a 2 and a different creation date and a shooting star at the base.

No one had even needed to say that Dipper was to make Drei's plank. His hands had shaken badly but somehow he had been able to get the inscriptions burned into the wood in his normal writing. And, of course, the plank contained a 3, the dates, and a pine tree at the bottom.

Then… They had given Ford the honor of inscribing the cross plank.

_Brothers, friends, family._

The woods were dark, though the sky was finally getting that pre-dawn green tint to it, where the stars seem to shine ever brighter before being blown out.

Then…

Then…

Stan stopped dead, flashlight trembling, no, whole body trembling actually.

"What?" Ford hissed, already shoving Dipper and Mabel behind him and yanking out his gun. "What is it?"

Stan could only lift his flashlight hand and raise one finger to point. Illuminated there on the ground was a large lump of rusty reddish cloth. For a second, he didn't know what he was looking at. But one split second later…

" _DREI!_ " Dipper didn't care about his squeaky shriek, he just barreled out from behind his sister and pelted to the lump. Stan followed too, running and getting down on his knees next to the bundle, leaving Ford to the mercy of the moonlight.

But then a pair of glow-in-the-dark eyes blinked open, and Ford saw two more pairs still lidded and glowing faintly, and he rushed over as well.

_The brothers were alive._

"Drei, oh Drei I thought… You died but somehow you're back and I missed you so much!" Dipper was squeezing the life out of Drei, who was clinging to him. "Dip! Oh goshes I am so glads to see you! Thoughts I would never sees you again!"

Now Eins and Zwei were waking up, and each was embraced by Stan and Mabel, respectively. And all of a sudden, almost everyone was crying. Eins had a hand covering half his face as he sobbed incoherently in relief, and Stan had tears silently dripping down his cheeks. Zwei was biting his lip, though his eyes were sparkling as he tried not to cry, and Mabel's face was buried in his chest. And Dipper and Drei were echoing each other, half laughing and half crying, each wrapping the other in a bear hug.

Then Stan pulled the other brothers and his niece and nephew into his hug. "Drei, kiddo," he murmured. "Zwei. Am I glad to see you three."

"How?" It was the first word Ford said. "How are you alive?" His voice cracked, like his throat was closing up.

Eins's eyes finally met Ford's and he let out a slightly hysterical laugh. "Well, first, it hurt like hell."

Hell indeed, fire and demons and all.

"And then… Nothing. For a long time. Like being frozen," said Zwei in a voice similarly strangled by emotion.

"Thens… Here," finished Drei, peeking over Dipper's shoulder. "We gots losts in dark and had to rests."

"We were coming to put up a monument for you guys," said Mabel in a teary voice. "We wanted to do it tonight…"

"Yeah," Dipper said in a scratchy voice. "It seemed really important we do it tonight."

Eins smiled and leaned over, ruffling Dipper's hair since his hat had fallen off.

Ford was still standing there, at a complete loss for what to say or do. His heart was racing and he was relieved, but he still felt insanely guilty. But then he saw Drei wriggle, prompting Dipper to let go. The youngest and littlest of the construct brothers, the incomplete one, the one he had upset when he first came out of the portal… Drei walked over to Ford.

And hugged him around the middle. "Creator join groups hug too," he said quietly, then pulled Ford over to the group. He got down and was immediately accepted into the pile. Eins, Zwei, and Drei still weren't mad at him. And he'd gotten them _killed._

It seemed remarkable. But amazingly good. He was their father, their Creator. That's all they needed from him.

On the way back to the Shack, the monument to the brothers would be quietly dropped into the Bottomless Pit; the mood would grow somber for a moment as the seven watch the wood spiral off into the dark. There would be a feeling of closure, peace, as they returned to their home. There would be consequences for the brothers, of course, but their family would be there to help.

But that is all in the future. For now, the group remained huddled there in a moonlit clearing until it was moonlit no more, feeling rather than seeing the dawn break.

It was a better day than any of them had ever expected to wake up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From FF.net posting: "In the published Journal 3, it's stated as canon that all 3 journals were reformed and found in the woods, unchanged, after Weirdmaggeddon ended! So the journal brothers come back to life, thankfully. ;) I hope I tricked some of you, ehehehe…
> 
> The actual passage from the journal: " _Dipper here! I can't believe I'm holding this book in my hands. I saw Bill burn all 3 journals right in front of me! But this morning, Soos found the journals lying in the woods, unharmed. Apparently, defeating Bill didn't just de-weird the town, it also restored many of the things he destroyed-including the journals!_ "
> 
> Anyways Drei's Birthday Special is coming up on June 18th, which is when the next chapter will be released! I hope you guys will like it! :D You'll have to wait a while, but in that time I'll be writing it and hopefully making it awesome!"


	12. The Creation Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Jun. 18, 2017
> 
> From FF.net posting: "And back to the adorable fluff we go! Happy 32nd birthday to Alex and Ariel Hirsch, and of course Drei as well!
> 
> Credit to ParagonConduit [on FF.net] for the idea of Stan acting as a proxy for Eins to get Drei a present and for the flashback idea! :D
> 
> Once again, I do not own the journal entries. Those are from the published Journal 3."
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Best Day of My Life by American Authors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fTUj9mfnUk)

When Drei woke up on the eighteenth of June, he didn't expect the day to be any different than usual. So when he opened his eyes to see the faces of Mabel and Dipper floating disconcertingly close, he yelped and scrambled backwards, bumping his head on the end table and whining in displeasure.

Mabel and Dipper instantly looked guilty. "Oh my gosh we're sorry Drei!" Mabel gasped. "We just wanted to surprise you!"

"Yeah," Dipper said, wincing and rubbing the back of his own head apologetically. "Sorry, man." He held out a hand, which Drei accepted and used to pull himself into a sitting position. Dipper was nearly pulled off his feet.

"Is okay!" Drei chirped. "You no means it. But… I is confused as to whys you wants to be surprising me?" Indeed he did look confused as he stretched and yawned.

"Today is June 18th!" Dipper declared. When that drew a blank look from Drei, Dipper prompted, "the date of your first recording? When your Creator made you?"

Dipper remembered sitting with Drei in the living room and flipping through channels earlier in the month, about a week and a half previously. He'd randomly thought to ask Drei what his first recording had been, and Drei had shown him. Then he'd mentioned how his Creator had apparently made the entry right after Drei awoke for the first time, about twenty minutes after he'd been created.

Dipper had told Mabel later, and she'd shrieked about how Drei needed a little birthday party. She could invite her new friends Candy and Grenda, because surely they'd come. And Wendy and Soos, of course, would be there. They'd gotten right down to scheming about the details, even getting Stan in on it, and made sure that Drei didn't suspect a thing. That showed now.

"So?" Drei asked. "Is just day."

"It's your birthday!" Mabel declared with a squeal. "An especially special day!"

"But… I was not borns," Drei said, confused. "I created."

"Well then we can call it your Creation Day," Dipper said with a grin. "Same principle, really."

"People celebrates those kind of thing?" Drei asked curiously. Creator had certainly never celebrated his birthday. Was this a thing that had been made up in the last thirty years?

Mabel nodded so hard Dipper thought she'd give herself whiplash. "Yeah! There's cake and balloons and presents and all sorts of festivities! Birthdays are the best!"

"Cake sound good," Drei mused. "And present? Me get presents?"

"Of course, Drei! Mabel and I got you things!" Dipper laughed.

"No ones be giving magical construct presents before," murmured Drei, an almost starry look in his eyes. "Beside clotheses, but everyone be needing those."

"Well, get used to it, Drei, cuz you'll be having birthdays for the rest of your life!" cheered Mabel as she pulled him to his feet. All three kids got dressed, each giving the other privacy. Mabel wore a sweater with a cake, Drei wore gray sweatpants with a blue shirt and his red coat and monocle, and, surprising no one, Dipper wore his usual outfit. The twins also tied a blindfold over Drei's eyes, making sure the monocle was floating on top of it and not wrapped over the teen's eye.

Dipper and Mabel each grabbed one of Drei's hands and carefully led him into the hallway. There was a close call with an open door, but Mabel skillfully maneuvered Drei around it before he got a bloody nose. That would have been an extremely unfortunate birthday present.

The trio thumped down the stairs and into the kitchen before Dipper put a hand on Drei's chest to stop him. "One sec, man." There was some shuffling and the clearing of a throat, before Mabel whisked off the blindfold and Drei was left to stare in awe.

"HAPPY CREATION DAY, DREI!" called Dipper, Mabel, and Stan. Soos and Wendy would be there in a few hours, along with Candy and Grenda, Mabel's two new friends.

Drei's irises, in lieu of pupils, grew larger. Red and gold streamers had been put up, along with some balloons of the same color. There was a big breakfast laid out for everyone, with eggs, pancakes, bacon, fruit, and muffins. Over on the counter was a cake, covered with a glass dome to discourage bugs. "This… This all for me?" Drei croaked hoarsely, in utter shock still.

"Yeah it is, kid," Stan said as he ruffled Drei's already-messy hair. "It was all Dipper and Mabel's idea, I just helped."

"Thank you all so muches!" Drei said loudly, hugging them each in turn and practically vibrating like he'd already eaten his cake. Then he went over to the table and began loading up a plate with the food.

Breakfast that morning was a happy affair, and each person could tell that today was going to be a worry-free day. It was like they knew they could cast aside whatever worries they had, be that mysteries or portals or cute boys or missing brothers, just for one day. As they laughed, sitting at the table and feasting, everything seemed like it would go perfectly, just for this one day.

They were grateful. Laughing and talking and watching Drei eat bacon for the first time and fall in love with it was a fun experience. But finally they all were full.

"What we do next?" Drei asked, hiccuping once and patting his full stomach.

"Well, I didn't have anything planned for the next couple of hours," Stan mused. "That's when the others arrive…"

"Hey," Dipper said with a thoughtful look that grew into a plotting smirk. "Now that Drei is over his fear of water, how about we teach him how to have a water balloon fight?"

"Oooh yes!" Mabel agreed enthusiastically, nearly spilling her morning cup of Mabel Juice.

"Water balloons are in the closet. Have fun, kids!" Stan declared with a grin, then started to put the dirty dishes into the sink. The twins dragged a very confused Drei to the hall closet, grinning the whole way.

"Guys, what is water balloon? I know regular balloon…"

"Basically you fill a small balloon with water and throw it at someone," Dipper explained while Mabel dug through for the package through the other junk in the closet. "They're made of thin plastic so they burst on impact, drenching the other person! Sometimes you play a game where you toss a balloon back and forth and hope it doesn't burst on you! And sometimes you try and dodge them, but other times you just wanna get wet." He chuckled.

"Yeah, it's a ton of fun!" Mabel declared, having found the bag of balloons and waved it around triumphantly. "My bro and I are pretty good at it. Well… I'm good at throwing. Dipper's arms are too noodley to throw far," she teased.

"Hey!" he shot back. "At least I'm good at dodging and stuff!"

"See Drei we make a great team! Wonder which you'll be better at," Mabel mused, shutting the door and leading the way outside. Dipper tugged the hose to the yard, while Mabel brought out a plastic bucket and Drei watched, intrigued. Dipper stuck the special nozzle on the hose, and the twins began filling the neon balloons with water. When Dipper caught Drei just staring curiously, he laughed and waved him over.

"Come on Drei! You can fill some if you want!" And finally the construct sat next to them, picking up a water balloon and poking it with a finger. It was squishy and he found that he liked it.

"I make some now?" Dropping the balloon he was holding back into the bucket, he held out his hand for the hose. Dipper, keeping it pointed at the ground, first showed Drei how to slip the uninflected balloon onto the hose nozzle without too much fuss. He remembered once how he'd sprayed these up his nose trying to fill a water balloon as a seven-year-old. That had not been fun. Drei did not deserve that sort of pain on his birthday.

While that didn't happen, thankfully, once Drei took the hose and tried to stick a balloon on the end, it slipped and rained a fountain of water down on all three of them. All three froze and the hose thumped to the ground, only innocently watering the grass now. Drei then removed his monocle to rub the drops of water off with his coat.

Finally Dipper spoke. "I vote we pause this and go get our swimsuits on," he said, wiping water from his face.

"Seconded," Mabel replied. They stood and walked into the house together, shaking off their various splattered areas. While Dipper went to change into his swimsuit, Mabel tried to help Drei find a pair of shorts that would work.

"They can't be uncomfortable," she mused. "Otherwise this will be no fun!" She pulled out a pair of sweat-shorts that they'd bought him. "Perfect! Now just wear these." She tossed them to him just as Dipper walked back in in swim trunks with pine trees on them and a white tee shirt.

"Dipper, why are you wearing a shirt?" Mabel asked flatly, raising an eyebrow.

"Wendy might arrive when we're still outside!" Dipper said plaintively. "I don't want her to see me all skimpy and shirtless, thank you very much. It'll ruin my chances for sure." Drei patted his shoulder sympathetically on the way to the bathroom to change.

Mabel sighed. "I don't think that would change much, Dipper."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," said Mabel. Drei came back in wearing only the bright yellow shorts. Mabel had picked them out, saying they matched his eyes. Now she scampered into the bathroom to put on her purple one-piece. He dumped his clothes onto his sleeping bag and placed the smudged monocle on top.

Drei sat next to Dipper on the boy's bed. It had been a while since he'd been this uncovered, tattoos morphing across his chest and back and arms and shins. Normally he wore a lot of clothes to hide the magical marks, even though this was Gravity Falls and weirdness was the name of the game. Some person could still call outside forces to come and take Drei away in the name of science. No one wanted that to happen.

Dipper noticed Drei had muscles in a wiry sort of way, thin but still strong. Unlike himself. He sighed and focused on other things.

"It's been a while since we've gotten to see some of your bigger tattoos," Dipper said with a grin. "Sometimes reading them from your arm is kinda tough cuz they get so small. It's so cool!"

"You say is cool a thousand times!" Drei said with a small laugh, arms crossed over his chest. One of Dipper's entries was displayed across his stomach, the one about the Gobblewonker.

"Because it is!" Dipper insisted. Mabel came back in, grinning.

"Ready to go, boys? Wow Drei it's been a while."

"I knows! I's been hiding long time."

"Well no one dangerous will be here today, so let's go!" she crowed and dashed down the stairs, Drei and Dipper hot on her heels. Soon enough they were outside again, filling the rest of the water balloons. This time it didn't matter when Drei couldn't seem to get the balloon to stay on the hose, getting wet was great fun and when Mabel got her hands on the hose she sprayed both of the boys, causing them to shriek.

But finally they had a bucket full of water balloons. Mabel specifically grabbed a fat pink one, and Dipper got a green one for Drei and a purple one for himself.

"LET THIS BALLOON FIGHT BEGIN!" Mabel suddenly shrieked after a moment of silence, and pegged Dipper right in the face.

"I avenge you, Dip!" Drei cried, and tossed his balloon, which glanced off Mabel's left shoulder and drenched her arm. Wiping water out of his eyes, Dipper let out a jubilant laugh.

"You're pretty good at this, man!"

The next hour was spent lobbing water balloons back and forth. Dipper mostly snuck up behind his sister and friend and dropped balloons on their heads instead of throwing, and his sneak tactic worked well. Maybe a little too well, seeing as when all the balloons were gone, Drei and Mabel took the empty bucket of water and upended it on Dipper's head, causing him to emit a girlish scream.

He looked like a drowned cat, and they weren't much better. All of their legs had a coating of grass, and Dipper grabbed the hose so they could wash off.

"Now we gotta pick up the plastic pieces so Waddles and Gompers don't eat them!" Mabel declared, and so they did. By the time that was done, Wendy had just arrived in the yard.

"Hey dudes! What did I miss, looks like a pretty epic battle went on here." She was grinning that easy smile of hers, and the very bedraggled Dipper felt lightheaded.

"Wendy! There was a huuuuge water balloon fight! Drei is really good at it, and Dipper was all sneaky because he can't throw!"

"Mabel!" Dipper groaned. "S-she's exaggerating," he stammered.

"It's okay." She ruffled Dipper's sopping hair affectionately and he nearly swooned. "As long as you have some method, it's the end result that matters."

Dipper was bright red as he nodded, unable to speak. Mabel took over instead. "We'll be right back, Wendy, we just gotta put on some dry clothes!"

"Okay cool I'll go say hey to Stan. Too bad I missed the water war, I coulda taken you all!" She winked and strode into the guest shop. Dipper watched her go with a dreamy expression, until Mabel socked his shoulder gently.

"Look she still likes you!"

"Yay Dip!" Drei cheered. The boy blushed even more, then went up to the porch and passed out towels.

"Shhh she still might be able to hear," he said with a small laugh. But really, he was pleased. She'd actually _touched_ him. After the trio had toweled off, they climbed back up to the attic to retrieve their clothes, hair all messed up.

Three much more well-groomed kids trod back down the stairs, earlier outfits replaced and hair brushed to a normal level of messy. Soos had arrived by that time too, and was eating some leftover bacon. He smiled when he saw Drei.

"Happy birthday, magic dude," he said happily. "This is your first birthday, and all, right?"

Drei nodded. "Technically is Creation Day. I not born, my kind created."

"Oh, hehe. Pretty crazy stuff!" Soos amended with a nod before picking up another piece of bacon. Drei laughed.

"Crazy stuffs indeed…" The magical construct agreed, going quiet for a minute a minute as he remembered opening his eyes for the first time with a foggy brain and a non-working tongue, seeing nothing but a gray stone ceiling and then the face of a brown haired main, bespectacled, with a reddish nose and square jaw. His Creator.

How the man had sat him up and given him a blanket to wrap up in, because he had no clothes and he was cold.

There was some sound coming from the man's mouth but Drei couldn't understand. His eyes flickered around, taking in the dim basement, the two blurry figures dressed in rust, gold, and white. He had drawn the blanket tightly around himself, scared and confused and _who am I?_

And then his vision grew less indistinct, the words coming from the mouth less garbled, and he looked over to his own arm to see words. "PROPERTY OF STANFORD," they read. "Volume 3: Drei. Ad astra per aspera! June 18th, It's hard to believe…"

"Drei? Drei!" A pair of fingers were snapping under his nose and he blinked.

"Whoopses, sorries. Was remembering day created is alls."

"Huh. What do you remember from it?" Mabel asked curiously. And Drei was off, recounting as much as he could, which was not a lot but still interested everyone in the room.

"You were created as an eighteen-year-old? That's crazy, man!" said Wendy with a laugh. "You got to bypass the awkward years, that's for sure."

Drei giggled. "Yeses! I no need braces like Mabel, and I no sweat a lot like Dip!" There was an indignant noise from Dipper that was quickly cut off and everyone laughed.

After the conversation had ended and all the bacon had been devoured by Soos, the twins, Drei, Soos, and Wendy all went for a walk in the woods while Stan finished setting up the outdoor decorations. It was a hot day, and the shade of the tall pines was pleasant. Drei would point out landmarks that had been recorded with him, including the stone altar he and Dipper had come across on their first outing. Mabel had them all stand in front of it so she could get a picture of all of them. She promised to print them all copies later.

They all arrived back at the Shack just as Candy and Grenda pulled up, and Mabel shrieked and ran over to them.

"Hey Mabel!" said Grenda happily. "Hey Drei! Happy birthday!"

"Thankses!" Drei called, and then Candy repeated the greeting. Both girls were carrying small boxes, and Stan called the gang to the backyard for presents. Lights, not turned on just yet, had been strung around the yard and some chairs had been set up around a table. There were already a few boxes on the table, tied up with bows, and some balloons had been attached to one of the chairs.

"Looks like everyone is here!" Stan called from the doorway. "Let me go get the cake!"

The sun had just started to set as Stan places the cake, decorated in red and gold frosting with the words HAPPY CREATION DAY, DREI! on top in white. Stan had asked Mabel to add the writing, since it wasn't like he could ask a bakery to make a 'creation-day' cake. But first, there were presents to open.

"Mine first!" Mabel insisted, plopping a blue box in front of the teen.

"Erm…" Drei tugged at the blue paper. "How I open without rip?"

"You're supposed to rip it, kid, that's how you open presents!" Stan grinned, but inside he was feeling a little sad. Had Ford never given them anything? Anything at all?

But then Drei was tearing through the paper and unwrapping another sweater, this one a dark gray with a gold magnifying glass on the front. Drei loved it, and Mabel hopped up and down several times before Dipper pulled her back to her seat, laughing.

Soos's present was a stash of candy, which Drei near literally drooled over, and Wendy's was a small pocketknife in case he ever needed to defend himself. (She'd told Dipper he would be getting a similar present on his thirteenth birthday, along with a few other things.) There was a 3 engraved on the handle. Candy and Grenda had teamed up to draw Drei a card, complete with a coupon to get a free ice cream cone inside. They didn't know the construct well, but he loved the gift.

Dipper was next. First, he'd drawn a homemade card with a well-done sketch of Drei and himself hanging out at the stone altar on the front. Drei read the inside.

"A promises to go ons adventures with me and make sure I completed one days?" Drei said with a grin. "Thanks you, Dip!"

"That's not all," Dipper chuckled. "Here." He handed Drei a small, wooden box, which, when opened, revealed a compass, perfect for the aforementioned adventures.

"Woah," gasped Drei, then hugged Dipper as he had hugged everyone else after they'd given their presents.

"Okay okay my turn, kid," Stan said with a genuine smile. He held out a small box wrapped in red with a golden bow. Stan had asked, very casually, what Drei's favorite colors were, and was unsurprised to learn that they were the same colors the kid usually wore. People tended to wear the colors they loved the most, and even when shopping Drei had made beelines for the reds and various yellows.

Drei took the box and unwrapped it to find a golden watch. "Oooh, this nice."

"It's, uh, not real gold and stuff, and I maaaay have stolen it, but hey it's a working watch and it looks pretty swanky, huh?" Stan wasn't good at the whole gift-giving thing, as he was looking anywhere except at Drei. But then he felt the pair of arms wrap around his middle.

"Thanks you, Stan," Drei said happily. "Is awesome." He'd already adjusted the watch to his wrist.

"Glad you like it, kid," Stan said with a chuckle and a ruffle of Drei's rust colored hair. "I, uh, have one more for you."

He pulled out an even smaller box from inside his coat. Truthfully… Truthfully this gift wasn't from Stan at all. It was from Eins, unable to attend the party. Stan had gotten him his own slice of cake, and promised to get some pictures. Eins had pressed the box on Stan, asking the older man to pass it along to Drei saying it was from him instead. Stan had, of course, agreed, and even given a hug to the downtrodden younger man. He felt guiltier than ever for keeping them apart.

"Here you go, kid." Stan tipped the box into Drei's hands and the construct opened it just as the sun finally fell behind the mountains. It was a golden lapel pin of the number 3, made of real gold, though none of those at the party knew that.

"Ooooh is cool!" Drei exclaimed, immediately fastening it to his coat. "How look?"

"Real fancy, dawg!" Soos said with a thumbs up, and the others confirmed it.

"Ready for cake?" Mabel then cheered, met with an enthusiastic confirmation from everyone. Especially Drei. Stan brought out a knife and a match. Dipper beckoned Drei over while Stan struck the match and lit the candles. Even so, Drei shrieked.

"My cake is on fires!"

"Drei it's okay!" Mabel soothed. "It's just the candles on fire, see? It's part of the tradition; you make a wish and blow out the flames!"

"He's afraid of fire," said Dipper quietly to the others.

"Shoulda thought of that," Stan mumbled. "Sorry."

"Is… Is okay," Drei said, creeping back to his seat. "As long as cake not burn and I not burn, is okay." He concentrated for a moment, screwed up his face, and said, "I wishes to get my brothers backs."

Then he blew out the candles. No one had the heart to tell him wishes were supposed to be silent.

"Good wish, dude," Soos said, patting Drei's shoulder.

"No kidding," said a grinning Wendy. Neither were strangers to wishing for the return of a beloved family member on each birthday.

Drei was beaming. "Thanks you! Cake now!"

Stan let the teen have the first cut, and soon enough they were all stuffing themselves with cake. Drei had put on Mabel's sweater she'd made him, and shrugged his coat on on top , and all of the kids were now flopped out on their backs on the lawn, laughing and making up fake constellations. Drei discreetly nudged Dipper to point out the constellation the boy had emblazoned on his forehead and the boy grinned back. Drei had promised not to tell, and he wouldn't.

Stan snapped one last picture, looking through the roll of film at the images. He'd asked Mabel if she'd want some pictures of the party for her secret scrapbook project, and, surprised and delighted, she'd taken him up on his offer. Stan was killing two birds with one stone; Mabel and Eins would both get their pictures. There were photos of the kids eating breakfast, having the water war, ones Mabel had taken on their woods walk, of the presents being opened, the cake being cut, and one particularly amusing shot of the gangly teen stuck in the new sweater.

Stan smiled and leaned in the doorway, listening to the happy noises and the crickets, the special blue-hued Gravity Falls fireflies just starting to emerge.

Below him, a man clad in red watched out a small peephole, a weak spot in the foundation under the deck, grinning wildly, a few stray tears dripping down his face. Eins was glad that his brother's first Creation Day celebration was a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From FF.net posting: "AN: Hey there readers! :) Hope that was enjoyable and such! This will be the last one-shot for a little bit. I'm gonna focus on some other projects. Just wanted to let you know, no way am I dropping this! I just want to get some other ideas out first.
> 
> Until next time!"
> 
> And... this is when I paused the story for two years OOPS


	13. A Curious Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is where I picked the story back up in 2019! And I'm still writing it :)
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Oct. 25, 2019
> 
> From FF.net posting: "Ah sorry for the break! But hey I'm back with a new chapter that hopefully you'll enjoy! Starring Soos and Wendy!
> 
> Okay so the above line was written back in like… Late summer of 2017. I planned on just taking the last two months of that summer as a break, because summer is stressful for me, but… A friend showed me a webcomic in the end of August and hot damn a new obsession took root! I have fics I wrote for said comic too, if you want to check those out! But yeah, between that and mental illness struggles...
> 
> I'm rewatching Gravity Falls with a friend, and actually reading her this fic, so… EYYYY I got inspiration again! Over 2 years later! I am sincerely sorry to my dear readers for the… truly wild wait, but to those still kicking, I hope this chapter and the ones I will continue to write make up for it :) It's short but I hope still good!"
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Ants Marching/Ode to Joy by the Piano Guys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd_Apo6okzk)

"Hey Mr. Pines!" called a red-haired, freckled girl as she walked into the gift shop, pinning a name tag to a green flannel shirt. "Ready for another 'eventful'…" Her air quotes fell as her hands dropped to her sides when she spotted Drei helping Dipper dust some snow globes.

"Wait who's this?" She looked confused as she took her place by the register. "Is he, like, replacing me…?" Dipper and the new guy looked over, and she noticed the lack of pupils and how one of his fangs was sticking out.

"Oh h-hey Wendy!" Dipper waved enthusiastically before dropping his hand and flushing a little. "Um… This is Drei. He's staying here with us; he's nineteen. And no he's not really working in the Shack."

"Hello! I is Drei, magical recording construct! You is Wendy rights? Dip tell me lots and lots about yous!"

The shorter boy behind the red-clad figure blushed. "I told him about everyone."

"But mostly yous."

"Drei!"

Wendy grinned. It was a knowing grin, but Dipper was too busy pulling his hat over his eyes to notice. She wasn't blind to his feelings for her, but she wasn't going to tell him she knew. Anyways, she had much better questions to ask at the moment. "So okay you're Drei and you're nineteen. What're you doing here?"

"I living heres for nows. Gonna try and finds brothers." He walked over, sticking out a hand for her to shake. She took it, and he shook vigorously, obviously enjoying himself.

"Well that's nice," Wendy said, a little lost for words, rubbing her sore fingers on her ripped jeans. So okay she's seen weird stuff in the woods. But Drei was definitely new. He was really small for someone his age, she noticed. He wasn't any taller than her, and skinny to boot. She wondered what was up with his voice but found that she was too afraid to ask. Once, she'd been more loose-lipped and prone to just letting invasive questions slip out, but she'd curbed that habit a while back.

Not that she'd been able to stop the questions from infiltrating her mind.

"I can'ts wait to get to meet you!" Drei said enthusiastically.

"You too!" And his enthusiasm was infectious, she found, offering a laugh at his expression.

"What's up, dudes?"

"Soos!" Dipper said, turning to the door with a grin of his own. His blush had vanished, thankfully. "Nice to see you."

"Same little dude. Wait who's this? He's all matchy and stuff. Is he a living video game character?" Soos was now squinting at Drei, tapping his chin with a finger. Drei stared right back, unblinkingly, looking just as interested.

"This is Drei, Soos. He's living here now! And he's also magical so there's that."

"Woah dude are you serious? Can you make pizza come out of your hands?" Drei cocked his head and his eyebrows quirked.

"Whats you talkings bout?"

Dipper was laughing, laughing almost impossibly hard, mainly due to the mental image in his mind. "Drei can't do that!"

"You never did tell us what you can do, Drei," said Wendy, interested. "Show us show us!" She had taken her seat behind the counter and was leaning on it with her elbows.

"Maybe it's some crazy brain stuff!" Soos said, leaning on the counter. "Something we can't see! Can you move that stool with your mind, dawg?"

Dipper could tell Drei was getting a bit overwhelmed. His irises contracted a little and he took a step back. "Hey guys," Dipper said, waving a hand to get their attention. "How about you just let Drei show you?"

"... Good idea, dude," Soos said with a nod.

"Yeah, sorry, got a bit carried away," said Wendy with a sheepish laugh.

"Its okays! You just curiouses. Not bad!" Drei laughed, rolling up his sleeves to expose the shifting black tattoos. Sometimes a bit of blue from a Dipper entry could be seen. The marks paused on a key showing how to decrypt several ciphers, including one that used peculiar alien symbols.

"No way," Wendy said with a grin. "Shut up! That's crazy cool!" Soos's eyes simply widened and his jaw dropped.

Drei smiled. "See? I is recording device! I stores informations and they appearing on my skin! Creator starteds me, and Dip is makings entries now!"

"Entries?" Wendy echoed, confused. "Are you saying you taught Dipper to be a tattoo artist?"

"No, not like that," Dipper said with a laugh, pointing to one of his entries. "Basically I just have to think what I want to say and sort of imagine it being made into a tattoo. It's… easier to do than explain."

"I no know how Dip getted tuned to my magics," Drei said, looking down at his own magical markings. "Here's is good one." The tattoo showed one of his Creator's entries, the one that showed a detailed drawing of the plaidypus.

"I knew it!" Soos exclaimed. "There ARE Scottish ducks in the woods!"

Dipper immediately spluttered and laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. He didn't mean to be unkind but that was the funniest sentence he had heard in a LONG time. Pointing to the tail on the illustration, he wheezed out "do ducks have tails like that?"

"Oh it's a beaver duck! A duck beaver? A deaver? Duver? I dunno man, it's freakin' me out!"

"Dude it's a platypus!" Wendy said, also laughing.

"A what?"

"Oh man…" She pulled out her phone to look up a picture of the creature, while Drei turned to Dipper, head tilted.

"I no get it."

"It's okay man," Dipper said, still chuckling but having caught his breath. "I'll try and explain later." Drei shrugged and waved his feather duster before setting it down on the counter.

"What we do nows, Dip?"

"Well, we did finish the dusting, and the gift shop isn't open right now…" He looked up, smiling again. "Wanna show Soos and Wendy were we met?"

"You means hidden metal tree?" Drei perked up. "That woulds be nice walking!"

"I sure don't have anything to do, and it is real nice outside," Wendy said, nodding.

"And dude! You, like, gotta tell us the story of how you two met," Soos said, gesturing. "The world has to know!"

"Okay!" Dipper said with enthusiasm. Drei bounced up and down beside him.

"Let'ses go!"


	14. As Things Get Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, I am caught up to all I've posted! Warning for a bit of blood in a dream sequence.
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED: Nov. 23, 2019
> 
> From FF.net posting: "Hey guys! I've been wanting to write this scene for yeah, like 2 years lol. I wanted to get a little closure? Kinda? On what exactly everyone was feeling after the Reunion Second. There IS some blood in this scene, so warning for that!
> 
> I tried to capture the feeling of grief but not-grief at the same time. Just a confused muddle of traumatized feelings, which does really fit here. But in the end, the worst is over and everything turned out alright and this story reflects that."
> 
> Song for this chapter: [Your Bones by Of Monsters and Men](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXUloVYbchg)

It had been three days since the rediscovery of Eins, Zwei, and Drei, and it was three days until the younger pair of twin's birthday. While there had been builders and plumbers and other people coming and going to fix the Shack, overall everyone had been relaxing. Well, they had been trying to, at least. It was less like relaxation and more like recuperation; though none of them truly had any serious injuries, they were all haunted in their own ways and needed time.

Time to do what? Nothing, for the most part. There was also a lot of movie and TV show watching, usually things they had all seen before and knew had happy endings. Mabel's tapes were good for that.

One thing that had changed is that the three brothers preferred to sit in a huddle, touching somehow, whether that be shoulder to shoulder, back to back, or just leaning on each other. Who could blame them, really? Dipper would check that Mabel was still in the room at least once every ten minutes, and Mabel would call Stan's name sometimes just to hear him respond, proving that he still knew his own name. Ford's eyes regularly darted to the windows to check the color of the sky outside.

They all had their mental scars. Of course they did, everything about Weirdmaggeddon had been… Horrific, to say the very least.

"Hey, uh, what do you guys want for dinner?" Stan's voice was the first to break through the chatter of the TV, chair creaking as he eased himself up.

"Grilled cheese?" piped up Mabel, looking at him with a smile that looked more tired than her usual.

"We got cheese, we got bread, and we got butter," Stan replied, counting off the ingredients on his fingers. "I'd say that's just enough for grilled cheese."

"Yay!" cried Drei and Mabel in unison. There wasn't as much oomph in the reply as there usually was, but it was good to hear none-the-less.

Dipper chuckled. "Yeah, sounds good to me." He drew the blue blanket more tightly around his thin shoulders, sitting between Drei and Mabel. After a moment, he leaned his rather unsubstantial weight onto Drei's arm, and the construct looked down and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Dipper no longer cared about how 'manly' he appeared. He'd fought a demon and won, no matter how scarring the entire experience had been. Now, he just wanted the comfort of his family. And besides, no one else was here to see.

"Yeses," agreed Drei, nodding, then readjusting his monocle as the motion nearly dislodged it. "Am hungries."

"Will you need any help, Stanley?" Ford looked up from his chair, where he'd been reading a book.

"Nah Sixer, I got it. It's grilled cheese, not too hard to make."

They'd gone to the store while the builders had been fixing up the most important parts of the Shack. After starting with the essentials, they'd splurged just a bit as a victory celebration for preventing the end of the world and for the brothers being alright. And also celebrating the fact that the fridge had been repaired.

"After dinner we can all have banana splits too," Grunkle Stan offered with a grin that was a bit more 'him' than it had been yesterday. Everyone could see it and it made them smile too.

"I am rather partial to bananas and chocolate," Eins offered with a tired smile of his own.

"Same here," Mabel said, reaching over to poke his shoulder.

"Is coffee a viable topping to add?" Zwei asked, leaning back against the couch.

"Alright you lot," Stan said, laughing. "We gotta get through dinner first, then come talk to me about weird ice cream toppings."

"Coffee isn't a weird topping!" Zwei looked scandalized, but Stan had already retreated to the kitchen.

"I know he said he doesn't need help," Mabel said, patting her brother on the shoulder and standing up. "But I wanna go help anyways!"

"We'll stay here as backup, sis," Dipper said with a chuckle, closing his eyes. He still had black circles under them, but those were improving little by little. He was getting _some_ sleep as opposed to _none._ Naps during the day helped too; he was less likely to have to deal with bad dreams then.

"Yeses. Don't wants too much people trying to helps!" Drei agreed, stretching out his legs in front of him.

It wasn't long until they were all in the kitchen, crowded around the rather cramped dinner table. Dipper traced the wood grain in the table with one hand while the other was holding his grilled cheese.

"I forgot how good food like this tasted," Ford mumbled, almost to himself.

"Didn't have grilled cheese in the portal?" Mabel asked sympathetically. Ford laughed a bit, wiping his hands, sandwich gone.

"No, I ate what I could find, and also rations I got from friends." They knew about the allies he'd made in the other worlds. "Cheese was a rarity, that's for sure."

"Did they have space cows?" Mabel asked, face lit up in wonder.

"Something like that, most likely," Ford said, tapping his chin with a finger.

"I's done grill cheeses," Drei said then. "Cans ice cream be happening now?"

"Hold your horses, kid!" Stan said, ruffling his already messy hair. "We gotta clean up a bit, then yeah. Ice cream time."

With everyone working together, cleaning the kitchen went much quicker than usual. Unlike cooking, cleaning usually did work better with more people. In no time they were sitting around the table once more, each with a sundae made to their own liking. Mabel and Drei went for lots of chocolate, the latter ending up with chocolate on his face that blended into the ink spot tattoos currently on his cheek. Zwei went for coffee and and extra banana, causing Stan to elbow him and say 'two bananas' without elaborating. He got glared at by Zwei, Ford, _and_ Eins for that.

Dipper opted for caramel on his sundae, as did Ford. Eins ate his with no toppings, earning a good-natured ribbing from the middle brother about how boring and 'vanilla' his ice cream tastes were. Stan added a bit of everything.

And, after that, it was time to sleep. No one wanted to admit to themselves that they'd been trying to put off sleeping, but they collectively had decided to procrastinate on the basic human need.

No one wanted to take the chance of witness what might be inscribed on the other side of their own eyelids.

Each had their own burden to bear.

But it was nearly midnight and every last one of them was rather sleep deprived. The mood tapered off into vague, fuzzy unease as they mumbled their goodnights. Actually, it wasn't so much unease as discomfort, like they'd all realized their skin didn't feel quite right, or the colors of the world were slightly off.

In actuality, nothing was wrong with the world at large. It was simply the memories creeping back.

They all knew this.

But as the twins and Drei headed up the rickety, splintered steps, Dipper thought to himself that if his brain was halfway convinced of the wrongness of things, did the right really matter as much?

* * *

Shoving a piece of wood aside, Dipper coughed. There was a fine layer of black soot on his skin, and it smeared as he rubbed a forearm across his face. Just a moment ago he'd been in the bell tower with his great uncle and the three construct brothers… But now he was alone.

Where had they gone? The blast hadn't killed him or even seriously injured him, but there was no trace of the others. Dipper didn't even see Bill and his cronies any more. There was nothing but him and a wind that blew around debris and the smell of the world burning. The light streaming from the portal above seemed to wiggle in midair in a way light shouldn't as he spun in a circle, then peered down from the ruined tower.

His suspicions were confirmed. It was just him.

Until it wasn't. A feeble cough suddenly came from behind him and he whirled again, nearly toppling over as a wave of dizziness hit him. He had been alone moments before. He had checked everywhere.

But now, he was staring at Drei, crumpled in an ashen heap, shards of wood sticking out of his chest.

"DREI!" Dipper screamed as he ran the short distance and scuffed his knees collapsing by Drei's side. The pale yellow eyes flickered open, still squinting as if the young construct could hardly see him. Perhaps the weird light hurt his eyes. Thick, sticky black liquid was dribbling from his mouth, and his throat tried to swallow.

"D-Dip?" Forming the words cause some black blood to splatter.

"Oh no, no no no _Drei,_ " Dipper said, voice almost a panicky whine. He had no idea where to put his hands. He knew removing the wood would make it worse but leaving it in meant he couldn't put pressure on the wounds, and…

He settled for trying to pull Drei's head and shoulders into his lap so he could hug him. "I… I'll fix this, man! I'll fix this… You'll b-be okay… You'll be okay." He was babbling at this point. Those alien eyes hadn't left his face even as Drei struggled to draw breath, blood dripping down the side of his neck to land on Dipper's ankle.

And then Drei tried to smile, but it broke off in a cough. His hands, shaking, slipped from his sleeves to grasp weakly at Dipper's vest, leaving small smears of black. Dipper hugged him closer, infinitely careful but also fiercely protective, trembling with the force of holding back his grief. He couldn't mourn. Not yet. He had to _be here_ for Drei.

"I-is okay," the youngest construct breathed, voice so small. "I s-scared but… Y-yous here."

And Dipper's heart broke.

He hadn't had any friends before coming to Gravity Falls, aside from his sister. Drei was the first. And Dipper was _losing him_. He was _scared_ and Dipper couldn't save him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but the tears still managed to fall. Squinting again, Dipper looked down at Drei. The gold and orange light that shimmered and danced like an oil spill was reflecting off the monocle, brighter than it should have been, and off Drei's uncovered eye that was beginning to film over.

The shoulders Dipper was holding shuddered, and Drei managed to speak once more, blood bubbling on his lips and in his nose. "G-goodbyes… Vier…" Stillness.

From the few words of German that Drei had taught him, this hit Dipper like a punch to the gut. Vier. Four. In his own way, Drei had just called Dipper his brother.

And then the floodgates opened and he was sobbing, curled around Drei and not planning on letting him go any time soon. He didn't even notice the blue flames creeping up on them both, licking at Drei's clothes and devouring the bloody patches. All he could focus on is that he had missed out on telling Drei he was family _again,_ even though Drei had said it this time.

Wait, again?

And, with that, Dipper sat upright in his bed, rising immediately like he'd been spring loaded. His chest felt too strangled to speak, and without even truly taking in his surroundings or letting his eyes adjust, he ran to the bathroom. He was in the Shack at night, not in a ruined tower at the end of the world, and that was enough for him at that moment.

Not enough to keep him from throwing up, though. He had enough time to cling to the toilet, fingers white-knuckled on the rim, and he was cogent enough to be thankful he'd have no mess to clean up. When the heaving passed, and he was able to straighten up again despite being wracked with shivers he was unable to stop, he took a breath. Seeing his image in the mirror, he was unsurprised to see his eyes red and watery, though he didn't know when he'd began to cry.

"Why me?" he mumbled to himself, voice small. Was he doomed to see his best friend die a different way every night? Why had that been so realistic? Why had Drei called him brother? Why had his mind come up with that? Was it because Drei had taught him to count to ten in German?

These weren't the only questions spiralling in Dipper's head. As more and more made appearances, Dipper's breathing sped up, and fresh tears spilled from his eyes until he was sobbing once again, though his cries were mostly silent. It was _all his fault._ For a split second, his eyes opened again and saw the mirror and he felt a burning _hate_ as he looked at himself. Swinging one fist back, he struck out at the mirror, one strangled cry escaping his closed throat.

He stopped with his hand a centimeter away from the glass, shaking, knowing he'd have a lot of explaining to do if he shattered a mirror. He also didn't need any more risks of bad luck in his life.

The fight drained from him in an instant and he was left a sweaty, trembling boy who was dealing with more trauma than his small frame knew what to do with.

His best bet, he thought, was going back to sleep. It was the only thing he could do, right? He'd take a shower when he got up for real; he was too fatigued to bother with one now, and he'd only sweat more in his sleep. Dipper wanted the peace that sleep would bring, but didn't want to risk more dreams, but… What else was there to do?

His shaking had finally subsided to a manageable point, so he spun, heading out of the bathroom and back to the dark attic room. The night was muggy and almost velvety, and yet even the softness of the air itself wasn't enough to fully reassure him. The first thing he saw was his sister, who had fallen asleep splayed on her back in the middle of knitting a sweater. He couldn't see what color it was in the dark. She was snoring, and didn't seem to be having the same issue that he did.

His eyes drifted to the floor where Drei slept. The construct wasn't there. In his place was the rumpled sleeping bag, thrown open haphazardly.

His breath caught in his chest again.

He knew it wasn't real. He really, really did. But that didn't stop him from nearly falling to his knees, whole body wracked with tremors, breath sticking in his throat like a clod of wet paper. A small, strangled noise escaped from his chest before he turned and fled down the stairs, still managing to step quietly.

He'd planned to run to Stan, to beg the man to tell him he was still dreaming. It turned out that he didn't have to, because, in the light of the flickering TV, he saw the three brothers cuddled together, Drei in the middle. Eins and Zwei had been sleeping on air mattresses in the living room, and they currently had those pushed together and had the blankets wrapped around all of them.

Dipper froze in the doorway, not wanting to intrude. Drei was looking like he'd just finished crying, salt tracks on his cheeks. The TV's volume was so low that whatever was being advertised just sounded like a low murmur, and Zwei's eyes were shut as he rested his chin on Drei's head. Eins was still actively crying, though he was silent. As Dipper watched, he tucked his head into Zwei's shoulder, moving closer.

Suddenly Drei's eyes flashed as the young construct locked gazes with Dipper. "Dip," he squeaked out, voice a little hoarse. "What you d-doing up?" He swallowed in the middle of the sentence; all of the crying had left his throat a little dry.

Eins and Zwei looked up when they heard Drei speak, and Zwei smiled. "Come to join our pile of trauma?" Eins nudged him, but his heart wasn't in it. "What? That's what it is." Zwei's normally melodious voice was rather shaky but he acted like he was fine.

"I was scared because I woke up and Drei was gone," Dipper admitted, voice a whisper. He stood there fiddling with the hem of his shirt, unsure what to do, until Eins stood up. The much taller man walked over and gently took his hand, leading him back to the others. Drei opened his arms and drew Dipper into the group hug, the small boy instantly wrapped up in the blankets.

Drei knew what that fear was like. His nightmares had been bad as well. He'd woken screaming in Caesarian, crying out "QR! Frph edfn! Grq'w ohdyh ph khuh dorqh!" For a moment, he had wildly debated about if he should wake Dipper before he'd run downstairs to his brothers.

They'd been up too. Eins had been softly talking to Zwei and comforting him.

Now Drei softly patted Dipper's hair. "Is okay. Yous with us now."

"Yeah I suppose I am," Dipper said with a noise that was half laugh and half sob. He was feeling much better, warm and protected as he was. He sniffed, clinging to Drei's sleeve as Eins rubbed his back gently. "Thanks, guys…"

"Don't mention it." Eins' voice was soft, comforting, exactly what Dipper imagined a kind older brother to sound like…

"Oh… Hey? Drei?"

"Yeses?" Drei's luminous eyes met his. This close, Dipper could see that while Drei didn't have pupils, the center of his iris was a slightly darker shade of yellow.

"In… In my dream, you got… hurt, and called me 'vier'. Like…. Four." Releasing the pajama sleeve, Dipper looked away. Why was he asking about this? "Did… I know it wasn't real, it was just a dream, but… Were you calling me your brother?"

Drei blinked, looking stunned for a moment, mouth open like he was about to speak. "Yeses… If I'd ever been callings you thats, I would mean yous is my brother…" Then he smiled, eyes shining. "Yous _is_ my little brother!"

"Aw you're the best, man." Dipper hugged his best friend-slash-brother close, voice catching again.

"Awwwww! You guys are so cute!" There was a tired voice in the doorway, which turned out to be attached to Mabel as she leaned on the frame, rubbing her eyes. "I woke up after dozing off while knitting you sweaters! But I woke up again and felt like making some cocoa."

Dipper normally would have told her that it was too late (too early?) for cocoa, or that it was the middle of summer, but a warm drink sounded nice.

"Hi," Drei said, voice cracking a little.

"Oh! You sound like you need cocoa too," she replied, nodding. "Cocoa for everyone! That'll help with the bad dreams and stuff. I know you guys are having them… I'm having some too but…" She broke the sentence off, knowing that what they were seeing when they closed their eyes was probably a very specific brand of horror.

"Bad dreams suck all around," came Dipper's voice from the cluster of blankets and brothers. "Cocoa for everyone is perfect."

It only took about two minutes for the water to boil with the electric kettle Ford had gotten for his coffee so the five were sitting on the air mattresses drinking the cocoa in no time. They kept their voices down, but soon no traces of tears were left. There were hushed jokes and giggles, and Mabel and Dipper even tried their best to remember some internet jokes to share.

Dawn was just starting to tint the sky, as it had three days ago when the two sets of twins had set off through the woods, a funeral march to honor the fallen, the hushed birdsong a quiet requiem.

This dawn didn't seem quite so bad. In fact, as Dipper spared a glance to the window to see the light bleeding into the sky, the future was actually looking bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact I messed up the 'two bananas' line but it made my friends laugh so hard I didn't fix it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of non-chronological one-shots that will fit into what the canon TV show would have been like if the journals were three humanoids.
> 
> But I'm gonna need help coming up with the ideas for which scenes to add/rewrite! So in the reviews, I'd love to get suggestions for which scenes to write! This will give me time to expand on this AU and fit everything together; I'm making a lot of it up from scratch! There are only two requirements:
> 
> 1\. No shipping that's not in the show! So basically no non-canon ships. I'm not really in the mood for getting into that.
> 
> 2\. The suggestions must fit into the canon show somehow! Whether that's re-writing episodes to fit the AU (for example, writing Drei into the scene with the gnomes, or Scary-Oke, or something of the sort) or having a simple idea about the interactions of the new characters with the canon characters, I'd really appreciate ideas that don't deviate too much from the canon, or at least don't invalidate any part of it. If you want to suggest an adventure not shown in the show that's cool too!
> 
> Oh, also keep it T or below please! I don't write sexual content in fanfiction.
> 
> Thanks, and I hope you guys leave some cool ideas!


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